Childhood
by Shiki105
Summary: Following an unfortunate accident while cleaning out one of Komui's old research department rooms, Lavi gets turned into a kid and Kanda's the one stuck looking after him. Rated T for Kanda's use of language THIS WORK DOES NOT CONTAIN ANY YAOI!
1. Accident

Yooo, everybody!!

Alrighty, so I got this idea for a fic a while back and I wanted to finish the whole thing before I put it up but I'm in a bit of a dilemma...cuz I've run out of scenariors and I wanted to ask readers for help. Might as well get all the info out of the way, first, yo:

Summary: Following an unfortunate accident while cleaning out one of Komui's old research department rooms, Lavi gets turned into a kid and Kanda's the one stuck looking after him.

Setting: post-war and nobody has a job anymore (and I have no idea how they pay for their stuff, though the Church does provide em with a place to live an eat an all, which is why this story is bordering on crack XD but I am trying to maintain a plot even though it doesn't seem like it)

Oh, and since I'm not a fan of yaoi and a huge fan of LK friendship (since there isn't enough of that around here, huh!) there is no shounen-ai in this :)

Disclaimer: I don't own D. Gray-man, as you all know, yo

So, without further ado, I bring to you, Childhood! (oh, and the name's gonna change too cuz it really isn't relevent to the story...at all...so, I'm up for suggestions)

* * *

As a "favour" for Komui, the two of them (the only ones available on hand) had been told to dispose of all the storage in one of the old research department rooms.

"Tch, that Komui is so annoying." Kanda hissed under his breath as he lifted up a tower of small boxes and carefully manoeuvred through the maze of stock so he could set his load down in the corridor outside the room.

"Yeah, I can't believe this," Lavi whined, "I was thinkin of spendin all day lazin around and Komui went an spoiled it for me."

Kanda snorted as he piled up more boxes. "That's what you get for slacking off."

"Hey!" Lavi exclaimed, sounding offended. "I've not had a decent break in days! I'm tired, ya know!"

"Whatever." Kanda scoffed. "You just don't like to work."

"I do too!" Lavi argued. "I work all day every day! It's not too bad to want a day off, right?"

The Japanese man quirked a dark eyebrow, "you work all day every day? What manner of dishonesty is that?"

"It's not a lie!"

"Yes, it is. If it weren't, you wouldn't be bothering me all the time."

"But I have ta spare some time for my friends too, right? Otherwise I'll grow up an become like Gramps…" Lavi trailed off at the mention of the old Bookman and resumed the task he'd been doing with fervour.

Kanda gazed across at his friend and sighed. "How many times am I gonna have to say this? If it hurts you so much, why don't you try contacting him, idiot?"

The redhead shook his head without looking up. "He made it clear when he left that he wanted nothing more to do with me."

"Screw that. He meant a lot to you, didn't he? If it bothers you so much, you should get in touch with him."

"I can't!" There was sudden anger in Lavi's voice as he replied. He roughly grabbed a box and swung around to face the door. "That's all in the paAAAAAAH…!" Having moved without looking where he was going, he crashed into a pile of boxes and fell with a loud thump. The box in his hands was sent flying into the air and then dropped back down to alight upon his head.

Something in the box spilled and Lavi gave another muffled cry as smoke swirled upwards. Kanda rushed over. "Oi, are you okay?" He swatted at the smoke to see what was going on. Lavi was soundless. Knowing how…questionable Komui's experiments tended to be, the swordsman was beginning to get a little concerned. But, the smoke soon cleared…and Kanda gaped at what he saw.

Sitting up on his knees and looking around the room, in clothes that were much, _much_ too big, was a little child. He could be no more than four years old. And this child had Lavi's red hair and one green eye. The eye patch looked like it was barely staying over his other and his favourite blue-green and black bandanna had slid halfway down his head.

"L-Lavi…?" Kanda stuttered.

The little boy looked up at Kanda and blinked a few times.

_Maybe this is like that time we got turned into kids?_ Kanda thought, recalling the incident in the old HQ when everyone had lost their minds due to some trifling ghost or something. "Oi, Lavi, say something," he ordered.

But the boy kept looking up at him, his big green eye unblinking. And then a slow smile spread across his lips and he rose to his feet and lunged at Kanda. "Papa!"

"EH?!" Kanda exclaimed. He made to back away but remembered in time that if he did something so thoughtlessly, he'd end up like his friend too…perhaps even worse. Little Lavi latched onto Kanda's leg and looked up at the man happily.

"Pick up!" He cried, holding his arms up.

_S-So he's…really…a kid? What the hell would posses someone to try an experiment on something so useless like this?!_ The swordsman thought, outraged. "I'm not picking you up! You walk! And we're goin down to Komui's office to fix this right now!" He glared down at the little boy.

Lavi's green eye started to fill with tears. "P-pick…up…?" He asked weakly, still holding his arms up.

Kanda didn't know what to do. He'd never been good with kids. But if the boy started to bawl, then it would just get on Kanda's nerves and he might do something he'd later regret. And the kid in question was his close friend; he couldn't just go berserk on him, could he?

_So I have to pick him up?_ The dark-haired man thought with something akin to dread. _No way!_

"Papa!" little Lavi cried out again, still leaking tears.

"I'm not your papa!" Kanda snapped.

The waterworks went up a notch at the harsh tone. "Ah…! Sh-Shit!" Kanda cursed, inwardly cringing as the child started to sob loudly. To make amends, he held his arms out and the little boy gladly jumped forward.

Kanda awkwardly lifted him up and blanched when the pants and boxers were left on the ground. He looked at the boy with a pained expression. "Y-You're…" he stammered. He wanted to say "not wearing any underpants" but he just couldn't force the words out. He'd die of embarrassment. How humiliating! What if he got peed on?!

"KOMUIIIIIIIIIIII…!" And he bolted out of the room, still clutching the infant at arm's length, knocking over piles of boxes but somehow avoiding falling over any in his haste to get away.

* * *

"Ah, I remember this potion!" Komui said brightly as Kanda finished explaining what had happened.

He'd put Lavi down on the paper-strew floor and, much to his relief, the redhead hadn't started bawling to be picked up again. Instead, he was gathering up masses of paper and was making confetti out of them. Komui didn't seem bothered at all.

"This was years back. Section Chief Reever and I were looking into age reversal and I came up with the idea to mentally and physically alter a person so that they appeared younger than they really were. It was to help out the more…older Exorcists."

"Like who…and how?" Kanda asked dryly. "Since you've been here, there's never been any Exorcists who've been incapacitated by old age and what use is anybody if their mentality reverts back to how they were at the age that they appear?"

Komui smiled. "That _is_ true, but we were thinking about the future. We didn't know how long the war would last, did we?" His eyes took on a strange gleam. "And besides, we scientists must seize every opportunity we get to delve into the infinite possibilities of this world!" He even pumped a fist enthusiastically into the air.

Kanda snarled. "That's it, isn't it? You just wanted to mess around with things that you should have left well alone. You make me sick."

Komui looked offended. "How dare you insult a scientist?!" his hands clapped down on the hard surface of his desk as he stood up. "It was for the good of the whole world that we scientists did what we did!"

"It was all useless anyway." Kanda snorted. "Is there a way to reverse this?"

Komui grinned, his anger abruptly forgotten. "Nope. Once the liquid gets in contact with bare skin, it starts to alter the body and mind as quickly as possible and the individual will stay in that state for up to around two weeks."

"Two weeks?!" Kanda exclaimed. He looked down at the happy little boy, still throwing tiny pieces of paper into the air as if it were snow.

"Yup!"

"So who's gonna take care of him?!"

Komui's grin widened. "You, of course.

"What?!" Kanda snapped. "Me?! No way!"

"Yes, way." the Supervisor sighed. "This potion was made so that the person who was affected by it would immediately trust in the person they saw first."

"What? That's crazy. Why?" Kanda demanded.

Komui walked around his desk and stopped before Lavi. "It's just one of the weird side-effects, and it only happens if the person who used the potion was already quite young and got reverted to an age where they're still developing. Regardless of how Lavi was actually like when he was at the age of three, the first person he saw now was you so he'll not want to stick by anybody else." The boy looked up in puzzlement. Komui held a hand out and Lavi immediately scooted over and hid behind Kanda's leg.

Kanda gritted his teeth, his annoyance displayed clearly on his face. There was no way he was going to look after a little kid for two weeks! No way! He wasn't a goddamn babysitter! "I. Will. Not. Do. This." he ground out.

Komui sighed again and stood up. "Well, the choice is yours. But he probably won't let anyone else near, which means he'll be without a carer and he won't be able to look after himself. If you care anything for your friend, you'll take him in. It's only for two weeks."

Kanda looked down at the little boy, who had now emerged from behind the swordsman's leg and was resuming his making of paper snow, casting wary glances at the Supervisor as he did so. "Two weeks is a long time."

"Oh, don't worry!" Komui said with his usual careless grin. "I'm sure you'll have a blast. You might just discover you make a good dad."

"You're taking the piss, aren't you?" Kanda glared at the older man. "I'll kill you."

"Now, now, Kanda, there's a child in the room. Don't want him picking up your bad habits, do you?" Komui laughed. Kanda's glare intensified.

"Well, whatever," he finally said as he turned on his heel and walked out the door, "Lavi, move it."

"Ok, papa!" The boy abandoned his task and caught up to the man, clutching the material of his pants with one chubby hand. The door closed shut behind them.

"I'm not your papa!" Kanda snapped. Lavi's head turned to the floor as his eye watered and the little fist holding onto Kanda's pant leg tightened. Kanda groaned inwardly and bent down so that his head was level with the boy's. He tried to find the best way to get the kid to stop crying. "Um…Sorry…But don't call me papa, ok?"

Rubbing at his eye with his fist, the little boy frowned. "So…what should Lavi call papa?"

Kanda had to struggle not to let his irritation show. "I'm. Not. Your. Father. Just call me Kanda." _I bet old Bookman would know what to do in this situation,_ he thought. He could have done with the old man's help; he knew next to nothing about looking after a baby. But at least he'd decided that he wasn't going to be leaving his friend alone to fend for himself. He wasn't that heartless.

"Kanda…?" Lavi mumbled. After mulling it over for a second or two, he smiled. "Ok, Kanda-papa!"

Kanda groaned as he smacked his palm to his forehead. "Just Kanda! No papa!"

"Kanda-papa!"

"No! _Just_ Kanda, you stupid little runt!"

"B-but…" Lavi's eye watered again at the insult.

Kanda groaned once more and stood up. "Come on, let's go find you better clothes."

The oversized shirt was barely staying on the boy's tiny shoulders. The dark-haired man wondered where to get the appropriate garments from and realised he had no idea. There certainly wouldn't be any in HQ so he'd have to go out and buy some. "Tch, so troublesome." He decided to enlist the help of a certain female Exorcist.

* * *

Once I start writing at a steady pace, the chapters will be longer...I hope. Anyway, sorry for any OOCness but...I reckon it's all explained in later chapters ^_^ hope you enjoyed it


	2. Shopping and Ice Cream

Thanks to the two people who reviewed. Ah, but I was really sad cuz no one gave me any ideas! :'( So, if y'all got somethin ya wanna see, then lemme know! And I'm still looking to change the name too *sigh*

Disclaimer: I don't own DGM.

* * *

Lenalee opened the door to find Kanda holding a little boy dressed in an overly massive shirt who looked remarkably like Lavi. But before she could start to swoon, she went over the facts:

Lavi didn't have any family. Or, if he did, he'd renounced it long ago so there was no way someone related to him could be here.

This was the Black Order; there was a very real possibility that Lavi had been caught up in one of her brother's old experiments (she'd learnt that Kanda and Lavi had been asked to clear out some old research department stuff so it was very likely).

She smiled. "That's Lavi?"

Kanda nodded. He held out the child as if he were something poisonous. Lenalee made to take him but the boy started to wail and clutched Kanda's sleeves as tightly as he could. "Papa!"

"I'm telling you, I'm not your dad!" Kanda snapped. "Just go to her! She'll take better care of you than I ever will!"

"But papa!"

Lenalee hung back, watching as Kanda tried to put down the unhappy child. _Papa_? She smiled to herself.

"Just go! It's only for a while! And it's not like I'm going anywhere!"

"B-but…!"

"I _promise _I'll be right here, okay? How's that?"

So, trying his best and failing to hold back huge tears, the little Lavi was placed on the ground and pushed towards Lenalee.

"Hi." Lenalee smiled as she squatted down on her knees to get level with the boy. "And what can I do for you?" The boy refused to let go of Kanda's pant leg. _How cute!_ She thought.

"Can you take care of him?" Kanda asked.

She tried to get the boy to let go of Kanda and come to her but Lavi refused. She kept trying for a while but to no effect. Kanda swore under his breath. "All right, it can't be helped. Where do I get him clothes?" He looked embarrassed.

She rolled her eyes. "How about a baby shop?"

He gave her a blank look. "Is there one around here?"

"Sure there is. In town. Just ask around and you'll get there."

"Is that all? Clothes are all I need to get, right? I don't need…other stuff…like nappies, right?" he looked very uncomfortable.

She chuckled. "No, I'm sure he'd already big enough to use the toilet by himself. Aren't you?" She put a hand up and gently squeezed the boy's cheek. He backed away and clutched Kanda's pant leg with both hands.

"Tch, you're such a wuss," Kanda reprimanded. "All right, we're going. And walk on your own, idiot." He tried to shake the boy off but Lavi wouldn't budge. He groaned and turned and walked away with his usual stiff gait, wary of the little creature clinging to his leg as if it were a lifeline.

Lenalee chuckled. What a rare sight.

Halfway to his room, Kanda had to pick the boy up again. "Tch, you're so troublesome." He chastised, though he tried not to sound too harsh; this little Lavi really was a wuss. _I'll never have kids._ He vowed.

"Papa not like Lavi?" the little boy asked, moisture in his eye.

"I never said that. And don't call me papa."

He cheered up. "So papa does like Lavi?"

Kanda frowned at him. "I have to look after you; it's not a question of like or dislike." The kid suddenly smiled. "What's so amusing?"

"Papa look after Lavi!" Lavi answered happily, his little arms twining around Kanda's neck and holding on tight. Strands of red hair tickled Kanda's cheek as the boy buried his head in the man's shoulder.

It was strange. With each passing minute, he couldn't believe that this kid was his best friend. It was absurd. Lavi wasn't soft like this, he didn't have this air of innocence, and for a long time now he hadn't looked this happy…behind his bright smiles, Kanda knew of the pain that lurked from the past.

But this was the Black Order; things happened here which were beyond the ordinary and his closest friend getting turned into a little runt was entirely plausible. He was holding his friend and he would be looking after him for another two weeks in this state.

And he resolved then and there that he would provide Lavi with the best care he could, so that the redhead would be joyful for a change…because being cheerful…truly cheerful, instead of pretending to be so, was what suited Lavi best.

When they reached Kanda's room, the man put the child down and went to get his coat. He was slipping the garment on when he glanced back at Lavi and froze. There was a curious expression on the boy's face and one chubby hand was reaching out to the Lotus Hourglass.

Kanda strode over and slapped the hand away. "_Never_ touch that!" he growled.

Lavi's features screwed up and he started to bawl. "Shit…" Kanda muttered. He heaved a sigh and dropped down to one knee and rested a hand on one tiny shoulder. "I'm sorry. I shouldn't have shouted. Lavi, come on, men don't cry."

"B-But…!" Lavi couldn't even get any words out past the huge sobs.

Kanda was feeling sorry for himself. What a stupid situation to be stuck in! But, he had to at least try to take care of the runt. "You want to go outside? We'll get you some clothes and then…" he wracked his brains to come up with something that a kid might enjoy doing, "we'll…we'll get ice cream!" Hey, it was the first thing that came to mind.

Slowly, the sobs abated and one green eye looked up at him. "R-really?"

"Sure. Come on." But before he stood up, he took off Lavi's bandanna (which had now slid down to circle the boy's neck) and eye patch. What he saw underneath was something he'd never seen before. Lavi was usually very particular about his eye patch. Kanda had called at Lavi's room early in the morning once and Lavi had still been sleeping with the eye patch on. Kanda had never seen what was underneath.

It was grotesque. The skin was marred by a thick scar and the actual eye was sunken a little, and though it wasn't open wide, all he could see of the eyeball was redness. He stared at it for a while, trying not to let his disgust show. It was horrible. No wonder Lavi covered it up.

Obviously, the weird formula which had caused Lavi to become a three-year-old didn't remove major wounds attained in the past.

"Pa…pa…?" Lavi muttered, looking at him with uncertainty on his little face.

Kanda shook his head to clear the useless thoughts. He untied the bandanna and then wrapped it around Lavi's head so that it covered the ruined eye and tied it up again. He wondered what to do about the shirt; the spring afternoons were cold these days so he couldn't let a child go out with a garment that was falling off one shoulder.

He got an idea. Since Lavi wore a size a little bigger than Kanda's, the Japanese man's old shirts would fit just a little better. He had one shirt stashed away in the back of his closet which he'd had for years.

He'd not had a good look at it for a long while so he was surprised at how small it was. He then took it over to the puzzled Lavi and asked him to put it on. Lavi tried to remove the overly large shirt but succeeded only in tangling himself up in it. Kanda rolled his eyes and removed the garment. He unfolded the smaller shirt and he slipped it over the boy's head and pulled it down.

"There. Better, right?" he asked, looking at his handiwork. Not much, much better but at least it wasn't trailing on the ground or falling off the shoulders anymore.

Lavi looked down at himself and then gazed back up at Kanda and smiled. "Yes papa!"

"Great, we can go now."

Though he realised the kid might still end up catching a cold. But he couldn't think of anything else. They would just have to hurry up and find that clothes shop.

They'd barely been walking for a minute when Lavi said, "Papa, pick up!"

Kanda huffed and, bending down, he hefted the little boy up. Lavi wrapped his tiny arms around the man's neck again and settled against Kanda's shoulder once more. He stayed that way for so long Kanda began to get suspicious.

"Oi, Lavi?" But he got no response. "Hey, rabbit, why're you so quiet?" He still didn't get a response so he tilted forward to force Lavi's head back. He was sleeping. Kanda sighed. _Damn brat_.

* * *

He finally found the shop, after asking around for a good half an hour. Once inside, he stared around. He'd never been to a shop like this. There were shelves of general child goods, racks of clothes, displays showing toys of all sorts.

Kanda went to the lady behind the till at the back of the shop. She looked up and smiled. "Good afternoon, sir. How may I help you?"

Kanda looked uncomfortable. "Um…I need some clothes for this kid?" Because he was so uncertain, his statement ended up sounding like a question. He hated being unsure of himself, even if this was just a ridiculous trivial matter.

"Of course, sir." The woman stood and came around the counter and went to a rack of clothes. "How old is he?"

"Um…three, I think." Kanda replied, feeling awkward. He wondered if he should wake Lavi up. It would be better that way. So he tilted the little boy back, cradling him in his arms and gently shook him. "Lavi, get up."

One green eye opened lazily and then blinked a few times. "P-papa…"

Kanda eased him up so that he was leaning against his shoulder again. "We're getting you some clothes. You should try them out."

The woman picked out some outfits and held them out. "How about these?"

There were black pants, with dull white shirts and black waistcoat vests. One of them even had a beret hat. It was that one which Kanda let the woman help the boy into, along with a pair of shoes, after he paid for the items. He said a hurried "thanks" to the woman at the till and exited. One of Lavi's hands was clutching the material of Kanda's coat as he walked and the other held the bag of clothes, because he was so very eager to hang onto it even though the bottom was dragging on the ground.

They'd been walking a while before Lavi spotted a child eating an ice cream. He tugged at Kanda's coat. "Papa, ice cream!"

Kanda groaned. He'd forgotten about that. His shoulders slumped. "All right." A promise was a promise.

Kanda didn't often come to wander around in town; whenever he did come he had a tendency to get whatever he needed and head back to HQ as soon as possible. He didn't like to dither. But even so, since the war had ended, he'd found that he had a lot of spare time on his hands and Lavi hadn't hesitated to drag him off to places like cafes and ice cream parlours, to "enjoy" himself. That was the only reason why Kanda knew where such places were.

"Is papa not gonna eat?" Lavi asked as Kanda handed him a cone topped with three scoops of different flavoured ice cream. It was what Lavi usually got every time he dragged Kanda to this damned place. He liked his sweet foods. But it looked ridiculously large in the child's hands.

"No. And don't call me papa."

The cone was being held in dangerous angle. Kanda was sure the ice cream was going to drop (which would probably result in Lavi bawling) so he sat the boy down at a bench that they'd been walking past and, taking the bag from the redhead's small hand, he urged him to hold the cone properly and finish eating quickly.

Kanda was sitting rigidly, glaring at anyone who went by (especially the women) who looked at him and the child beside him with expressions that said "aw, that's so sweet!" when he was interrupted by his silent fuming by the boy speaking up.

"Papa?"

Kanda cast the child a sidelong glance. There was ice cream thickly spread all over his hands and mouth. The man could feel his mouth curling up in disgust. "What is it?"

"Lavi need wee-wee."

Kanda balked. "S-say _what_?!"

"Wee-wee."

"I know what you said, dammit! All right…um…then go do your business behind that bush over there." He pointed across from the pavement, fully expecting the brat to heed his words and take care of his own problems.

Lavi looked at him, his expression one of incomprehension. "Eh…?"

Kanda groaned and, pulling a tissue out of his pocket, he threw it at the little boy. "First, clean up your face and hands and then go relieve yourself over there."

The boy still didn't understand.

Kanda refrained from smacking a palm against his forehead only by a huge effort of will. Heaving a huge sigh – probably his thousandth one that day – he stood up. "All right, just hold it awhile until we get back home."

"But…!"

"No buts!" He glared. The boy quailed and looked down, eye tearing up. "Clean yourself up."

Lavi picked up the tissue and started to clean his hands and his face. He tore the tissue and ended up spreading the mess over a wider area. Kanda wanted to smack his forehead again but bent down before the child and, taking the tissue from him, he wiped off the mess and threw the dirty wad aside. "Come on, then, we're going back." He hoisted himself to his feet and the boy jumped off the bench too, taking a fistful of Kanda's coat as he began walking.

They'd barely been going for a minute when Kanda felt a pull at his coat. He looked down. "What?"

"Need wee-wee badly." Lavi mumbled, his one green eye huge and pleading.

"Ugh…I told you to hold it."

"B-But…Lavi can't!"

"Goddamn…" Kanda looked around.

There was a field further down the road which had plenty of trees at the border. That was the best place he could think of.

When he had managed to get the kid in a suitable spot, he started cursing. Lavi couldn't open the fastener for his pants so Kanda had to help him. _I am never going to have kids_. He vowed with conviction. _Ever!_ _What a pain!_

The pants needed to be changed because Lavi wet them. Kanda made a note never to let the kid pee with his pants anywhere near his legs, because he couldn't quite control the direction of his…shower.

Finally done, Kanda all but dragged the child back to HQ. He was thoroughly pissed off. Lavi's bawling at the harsh treatment had died down to pathetic hiccupping sobs by the time Kanda stopped at his room. Kanda didn't pay him any mind and went to sit on his bed, figuring it wouldn't hurt to calm himself down by meditating some.

But instead of clearing his mind, he found himself dwelling on the little sniffles he could hear from the corner of his room. He couldn't concentrate with those sounds raining on his ears. He didn't like noise in general but these sounds especially didn't sit well…He sighed and opened his eyes. "Lavi."

"Hmm?" Lavi mumbled after a sob. Kanda lifted a hand up and motioned the boy over. He got up from the floor and warily approached. Kanda patted the space beside him. "Sit down."

Lavi did so. The sobs died down. Kanda tried to meditate once more. He'd almost reached that state of tranquillity when Lavi spoke.

"Papa is…mad at Lavi…?"

Sighing in irritation, the dark-haired man opened his eyes again and stared at the little boy. "No, I'm not."

"Really?" The green eye glittered hopefully.

Kanda reached a hand out and patted the head of red hair. "Yeah."

Lavi smiled and sat a little closer.

* * *

Haha, the wee-wee scene is probably my favourite one so far...but then again, there is that action-y kinda scene later and cuz I'm a morbid person by nature, that's probably my favourite :D but, anyway, that's a looooooong way off yet so no worries, yo!

I hope you people enjoy reading this crap :)

haha, but I bet I turned away LK yaoi fans when I said "there's no yaoi in this" in the summary. Tch, too bad.


	3. Meet the Rest

Yooooooooooooooo!!! It's early but I'm updating cuz of LaviYu Day :) so, enjoy!

* * *

Despite the war being over, the Black Order HQ was still full. That was because the people who had survived the scuffle with the Millennium Earl didn't have anywhere to go back to and the Church was being fair (for _once_) and looking after the personnel who had helped in the victory against the Akuma.

Several of these people stared long and hard as they walked into the cafeteria. An unusual sight lay before them. At the table where Kanda and company usually sat, the dark-haired man was feeding a little boy, looking extremely irritated while he was at it. This little boy looked remarkably like Lavi.

A few Finders who'd gotten to know the Exorcists exceptionally well over the years worked up the nerve to ask Kanda what had happened.

"The idiot got some weird shit spilled on himself, what else? Fuckin Komui and those research goons…" Kanda scoffed, forcing another spoonful of soup into the baby's mouth. He'd put the bowl in front of Lavi before but Lavi had made a mess of it so he'd taken it upon himself to feed the child. It was cleaner _and_ quicker that way.

The news was relayed across the huge chamber. The Finders and other personnel nodded in understanding and mentally rolled their eyes at their Supervisor's craziness. Some people never changed.

But still, they continued to sneak glances at Kanda's table. It was so strange seeing Kanda caring so openly for another. As far as they knew, the word "caring" didn't even exist in Kanda's dictionary.

But the feeding came to an end when Allen, Lenalee, Krory, and Miranda joined Kanda and Lavi for dinner. Everyone had already heard what had happened from Lenalee and started to fuss over the little redhead.

Picking up on the mutual feelings of discord that immediately rose between Allen and Kanda, Lavi answered Allen with an undeserved "go away, stupid bean sprout" when the white-haired boy greeted the little child. Kanda smirked.

"What?! It's Allen!" Allen corrected indignantly. He looked accusingly at Kanda. "You should be more careful around children, Kanda! They're easily influenced."

Kanda gazed at him blankly. "And why would I care?"

Allen was about to argue but Lenalee interrupted. "Well, since we do have a child here, why don't the two of you give it a rest?" She smiled, though there was something deadly about the gesture.

"R-Right," Allen agreed hastily. He shot Kanda a glare and proceeded to dig into the numerous dishes before him.

Meanwhile, Miranda was trying to ease the discomfort of little Lavi. "Would you like some candy?" she offered.

Lavi looked like he didn't trust her but he nodded anyway. Miranda smiled and, digging into the pocket at the side of her poofy skirt, she pulled out a small packet of sweets and handed them to the boy. "Here you go."

"Thank you." He said timidly.

Krory chuckled. "Who'd have thought Lavi was such a cute little child?"

Looking at the man's teeth, Lavi whimpered a little and drew into Kanda's side. Kanda sighed. "Would you sit on your own? He's not going to bite you. Tch."

"Eh? Did I do something wrong?" Krory asked, looking confused.

"There's nothing to worry about." Lenalee reassured the boy with a bright smile. "Krory's a good guy."

"B-but…" Lavi shot another glance at Krory. Kanda felt the little body stiffen a little so he put a hand upon his head and patted it.

"Um…These are your friends, you know." He said, trying to sound as nonchalant as possible.

"R-really?"

"Yeah."

A smile spread across the boy's lips. "Ok, papa!"

Kanda ground his teeth together while Allen nearly choked on his food.

"Don't call me tha…!"

"P-papa?! Since when?!"

"Shut up, bean sprout!"

"Hey, that was uncalled for!"

"Just shut…!"

It was Lenalee who halted the argument, once again, as always. "Stop it! Or I'll kick you both!"

"Sorry." Allen mumbled, resuming his meal while Kanda just scoffed.

"Brother said the effect of the…chemical that got Lavi into this state had some weird side-effects." Lenalee informed. "He won't trust anyone aside from Kanda."

_Aren't I lucky?_ Kanda thought dryly.

Meanwhile, Lavi was getting along famously with Miranda. "Aunty like sweets?"

"Eh?" Miranda looked at a loss. "I-I suppose I do."

Kanda was caught unaware but quickly masked a snicker as a cough, with his hand clamped over his mouth. _Aunty! She's not even thirty yet!_ He reasoned that it must be the eyes; Miranda's eyes were slightly sunken, making her appear a lot older than she looked. Though, that cleared up when Marie was in the vicinity. But Marie was currently away with Tiedoll, exploring new sights or something.

"Aunty have more?"

Kanda "coughed" into his hand again. _Damn it, Lavi. Shut up already_. He thought, trying to keep the smirk off his face.

"Sure, I do. You want some?" Miranda asked.

"Yes, please!"

"Well, you have to finish the ones I gave you first."

Kanda bonked the kid gently on the head. "Yeah, and don't ask for things shamelessly, you idiot."

"Daddy has spoken." Allen intoned, trying to keep a straight face. But he didn't manage it and burst into a cackling fit. Though it was stopped abruptly as he cried out. "Ow!" Lenalee was giving him a pointed look. "Sorry." He mumbled, bowing his head.

Deciding that the bean sprout had been deservedly punished, Kanda let the crack slide. "Whatever."

As Kanda was finishing his own meal, Lavi talked with the others (notably more with Lenalee and Miranda), though he kept shooting Allen suspicious glances. He seemed happy, overall. Though, when Kanda stood up to go give his tray back to the kitchen staff, the boy cried out and clung onto his arm.

"What's the matter with you?" Kanda asked, annoyed. "I'll be right back."

"Why don't you stay here, Lavi?" Lenalee offered.

"No! Papa!"

Kanda sighed and put down the tray and pried his arm out of the boy's grasp. "Fine, but walk on your own." He picked Lavi up off the bench and set him down on his feet and then picked up the tray again. "We're going." He said as farewell to the others.

"Ah, hey, you could stay awhile. I'm sure Lavi's going to be bored with you anyway." Allen said.

"Stupid, bean sprout." Kanda grumbled. "If you want him, you can have him."

"No! Lavi stay with Papa!" Lavi protested, clinging onto Kanda's leg.

"Will you stop that? It's annoying." Kanda growled, shaking his leg to make the boy let go.

"Hey, Lavi, if you know what's good for you, you'll stay away from this idiot." Allen informed.

Kanda glared at him. "What was that, bean sprout?!"

"It's Allen, stupid Kanda."

"Stupid bean sprout!"

"Stupid _papa_!"

"Papa not stupid!" Lavi interjected, glaring at Allen and clutching the leg of Kanda's pants.

"H-He's glaring at me! That's so rare! It's your fault, Kanda!" Allen accused, pointing a finger the dark-haired man.

Kanda heaved a sigh and turned around. "Whatever."

"Stupid papa! You're the worst parent ever!" Allen called out.

"Enough, Allen!" Lenalee snapped. "Stop behaving like a child!" Allen obediently fell silent and resumed his meal.

After Kanda had given the tray back, they walked towards the exit. Lavi looked back before they left. Allen was looking his way so he stuck his tongue out at him.

"Did you see that?! He stuck his tongue out at me!" Allen complained. "Hey, what kinda treatment is that?! Kanda's been influencing him! That guy's gonna be the worst parent ever!"

Lenalee sighed. "Calm down, Allen. It's because Lavi's attached to Kanda right now so he'll act how Kanda acts towards others."

Allen dropped his spoon, looking shocked. "What if this animosity still stays when he changes back?! We'll be hated by our close friend! Damn you, Kanda!"

Lenalee rolled her eyes. "I wouldn't worry about that. Lavi will go back to being how he always is when the two weeks are up. Er…" she paused thoughtfully, reflecting on her words, "at least…I hope so."

* * *

"You don't need to pee, right?"

Lavi shook his head.

"And you're not hungry?"

He shook his head again.

"Good. Get some sleep now." Kanda waited for the boy to lie down on the spare bedding he'd rolled out on the floor before standing up and going over to his own bed.

He was hesitant to leave the room because he was sure Lavi would come after him so he waited until the boy was fast asleep.

It didn't take long. Kanda breathed a sigh of relief and left. He really had to use the bathroom. He'd been holding it forever because Lavi wouldn't let him out of his sight.

He saw Allen in the toilets. He groaned. He could really do without having the bean sprout getting on his nerves right now.

"Yo, Kanda."

As soon as he heard words coming out of the bean sprout's mouth, he replied automatically. "Shut…oh, never mind then."

Allen looked at him funny. "Somethin wrong? You're even more out of it than usual."

Kanda glared. "What are you trying to imply?"

The white-haired boy shrugged with a mocking grin on his face. "Being a father must be taxing on you."

"Shut up, bean sprout."

"Is your kid sleeping?"

"Shut up."

"Ah, don't tell me you knocked him out just so he'd leave you alone! I should call social services!"

"_Shut up_!"

Allen snickered as he went to wash his hands. Kanda glared at the wall while he finished up his business. Much as he respected the bean sprout for all that he'd done during the war and all (though he would never admit it), the boy still insisted on getting on his nerves.

He was washing his hands when Allen spoke again, sounding thoughtful, "Hey, doesn't he seem a little…_brighter_ today?"

"Lavi?"

"Yeah."

"Hmm…" Kanda frowned, thinking back on today and the past…well, since the war had ended. "What gave you that idea?"

Allen shrugged. "I don't know. Maybe it's because he doesn't remember any of his worries or he sees things differently because his mind's that of child's but…he hasn't looked this lively for quite a while. I mean…there's…something different…"

Kanda was surprised. "You noticed?"

"Heck yeah. I know he tries to cover it up but it doesn't really work on me…or Lenalee. He must be really upset about Bookman."

"Yeah…" He thought it wasn't apparent to anyone else…because no one ever let on that they knew of Lavi's suffering. But maybe they'd acted ignorant to it because they didn't know what to say to the redhead to make him feel better. Kanda was the only one who broached the topic openly…because he was Lavi's best friend and should know about these kinds of things. But he still didn't know how to ease the former Bookman apprentice's pain.

"Make sure you look after him well, Kanda." Allen said as he started to brush his teeth.

"I don't need to be told to do things from you, bean sprout."

And the serious mood shifted back to how it usually was.

But, when Kanda was lying awake that night, staring down at the silhouette of the little figure asleep on the floor, he couldn't help but wonder how long Lavi would suffer the pain of his decision.

"_Hey, Yu-chan?"_

_Kanda had been meditating but he opened one eye as the door of his room opened. "What?"_

_Lavi came to sit beside him. There was an odd smile on his lips. It looked more like a grimace. "You know I told you Gramps said that the two of us are leaving tomorrow? And I told you I didn't want to go yet, right?"_

_He had Kanda's full attention now. "Yeah…?"_

_The redhead looked down, fiddling with his hands. His expression was one Kanda didn't like. His green eye was glazed over, as if he was going to start crying anytime now. "He…" his voice almost caught. "He…said…if I don't do as he says, then I can…forget about being the future Bookman."_

"_What?! That's harsh!" Kanda exclaimed._

"_Not really." Lavi mumbled, picking a bit of fluff off his shirt and tossing it away. "Bookmen aren't supposed to want to stay anywhere for any other reason than to record history and our purpose here is done. It was ridiculous of me to even voice such a thing but…" he trailed off, looking morose._

"_But…?" Kanda encouraged._

_A green eye met Kanda's midnight one. Lavi smiled. "I told him I'm not going."_

"_You did _what_?!" Kanda demanded, rising up on his knees. "You idiot! Why would you do that?! Do you not want to be a Bookman?! This is what you've been working your whole life for, right?! Why would you give that up?!"_

_Lavi gazed up at him, trying appear indifferent but failing miserably. "Because…there's just some things in life which are more important that the truth and history of this world."_

"_But that's pretty damn important too, isn't it?" Kanda challenged, sitting back down._ _"For _you_, in any case. You're an idiot."_

"_Perhaps."_

"_There's no 'perhaps' about it." he snorted. "You spend your entire life aiming for one goal and when it's within your grasp, you turn it down? How inane are you?!"_

_Lavi sighed. "I thought you'd be happy for me, Yu. I get to stay by you guys a little longer. This isn't exactly encouraging."_

_Kanda scoffed. "Damn right it isn't! I _know_ it means a lot to us…that you want to stay here but you're a damn fool if you think I'm okay with you doing something reckless like this, for our sake. This is what, more than twenty years down the drain? Think practically, idiot!"_

"_I am thinking practically!" Lavi exclaimed. "And I don't want to be an emotionless shell for the rest of my life! Because if I do that…I'll be forced to forget all of you…" he looked down and wiped furiously at his eye._

_Kanda was a little uncomfortable. He'd never seen Lavi even close to tears before…excluding the end of the final battle where everyone thought Allen was going to die. It wasn't right because Lavi was the guy who always cheered everyone up with his huge and brilliant grin and wouldn't hear of it when someone wanted to be left alone to ponder on upsetting miserable things. He was annoying and persistent, but that was what made him Lavi._

"_I thought Bookmen don't forget?" the dark-haired man mumbled._

_Lavi shrugged. "Well, they don't but…if I become Bookman, I won't have the time to sit around and leisurely think about these past few years."_

"_But…" Kanda was running out of arguments so he threw his hands up in frustration, "you're still an idiot! And it's not exactly going to sit well with anyone that you gave up your future for us! You're so stupid! I could kill you right now!"_

"_Then do it." Lavi sighed. "Because my life feels pretty damn useless right now."_

"_Tch. You piss me off, you know that?! You're being pathetic. You should go back to the old man an tell him it was some stupid joke and pack your fuckin things up and get the fuck on with your life."_

_Lavi met Kanda's eye once more. "I thought you'd still want me around, Yu?" He looked so glum._

_Kanda looked away. "That's hardly important."_

"_Yes it is! I want to stay…because you, Allen, Lenalee, Kuro-chan, the others are all so important! I can't just leave the Order and never look back! That's too much!"_

"_What's too much is that you're going to suffer for this and it'll be our fault!" Kanda snapped._

"_I wouldn't think that for a minute!" Lavi cried. "I'm doing this of my own violation! I know there are going to be times when I'm going to look back and think "what if…" but I won't blame it on you guys! Geez, I'm not that weak, Yu!"_

_Kanda stood up and turned away, not wanting to talk about this anymore. He'd probably just end up giving in to the urge to hit the bastard and he didn't want to do that. There were play-fights and there were serious fights. He was fairly sure he didn't want to do something regrettable._

_In all honesty, he didn't want Lavi to go. But Lavi had a future to look forward to. What did the rest of the Exorcists have now? Their purpose was done and they were free to pursue whatever, even though it was kind of late to start a new life now…at least, in Kanda's opinion. He didn't want Lavi to hang around the Black Order aimlessly when he could be out there doing what he'd trained to do._

"_Just… I don't know what to say to you, Lavi." he mumbled._

"_I want to stay." Lavi said._

_Kanda sighed. "Whatever. If you think that's the best thing for you, I'm not going to say anything. I'm not your fuckin mom."_

"_C'mon, Yu. As my best friend, you're take on all this means a lot to me, you know."_

"_I already said my opinion's not important."_

"_Then tell me what is!"_

"_What's important is that you live a good _meaningful_ life from now."_

"_And you think it'll be good for me if I travel around the world, recording history through a poker face, without acknowledging that I'm a human too and I should have a proper life like those of the people whose stories I record? That's not satisfactory after everything we've all been through together!"_

"_Just…do whatever you want…" Kanda said, turning back to look at his friend briefly. "I'm going for a walk."_

_He made to brush past Lavi but the redhead stopped him by placing a hand on his shoulder. "Just answer one question."_

_Kanda cast him a sidelong glance, his gaze a lot sharper than he intended it to be. "What?"_

"_Do _you_ want me to stay? Honestly?"_

"_That's not…"_

"_Just answer, Yu!"_

_Kanda looked away. "…Yes." He shrugged out of his friend's grasp and left the room._

And he'd stayed.

Kanda sighed and rolled onto his back, looking up at the black space above. It was futile worrying about this now. _I should get some sleep._

He was going to do just that when low murmuring came from the little figure on the floor. "Pa…pa…?" The murmuring turned to little sobs as the boy sat up.

"What's up?" Kanda mumbled, not getting up.  
"Papa!" Lavi stood up and headed towards the source of the voice. He stopped before the bed. "Papa?"

"What?"

"Lavi sleep with Papa?" he pleaded.

Kanda sighed and threw the blanket back. He didn't want to get out of bed to put Lavi back in his own bedding. "Alright…"

Lavi clambered up and snuggled up beside Kanda. Kanda pulled the sheet around the boy and turned his back on him. "Go to sleep."

* * *

Um, I wanted this story have go a little deeper than just making Lavi turn into a kid for a couple weeks so I'm tryna get an actual plot going.

Oh, and I'm still up for ideas so keep em comin and thank you to whoever reviewed, yo! :) Enjoy LaviYu Day


	4. Burns

To There Was A Silence (awesome username, btw :D), thanks for the idea but I just couldn't see that happening after the war when there aren't any threats around at all, but thanks anyway :)

Enjoy the story and thanks to all who are reading (makes me want to continue writing it knowing there's people who're readin this shit :| ) oh, and although I don't need any more story ideas for this, I would still welcome suggestions for the title, cuz it really doesn't fit :\

* * *

When Kanda woke to go train in the morning, he woke up with his arm around the little boy. He looked at the peaceful little face awhile.

The bandanna which Kanda had tied over the ruined eye had come loose. He lifted a hand and gently traced the scar. It was such a hideous thing. _He never really told me what happened in his life before the Order_, he thought. _Was that because he wasn't allowed to tell of his past records? You should have kept following that life, you idiot. It's my fault you're upset…_he gritted his teeth and, being careful not to jostle too much, he got out of bed and went to get ready for practice.

He wasn't an Exorcist anymore but training was still important. He had to stay in shape. But his thoughts just resumed from where they'd left off before.

When he came back, Lavi was still sleeping. He gathered up his shower things and went to clean up.

Thoughts of Lavi kept intruding. _Stupid bean sprout_, he thought. _Thanks for reminding me of this._ But it wasn't like Allen had been the one to put these thoughts in his head; they'd been there ever since that time.

If he'd been a little firmer about Lavi following his life as Bookman, would the former apprentice be out there following in the old man's footsteps now? If Kanda had said 'no' that time, would Lavi not be here? It was so stupid! He hated doubting himself like this.

As he was approaching his room, he heard loud wails. He groaned and hurried to the door. He was thankful Lavi couldn't reach the door handle; otherwise he'd have left the room and wandered all over the building.

"Lavi?" Kanda asked, dropping his things by the door and kneeling down to gaze at the boy eye-to-eye.

"Papa!" Lavi stood up and flung himself at Kanda, wrapping his little arms around Kanda's neck.

Kanda sighed and patted the boy's head. "What's up?"

"Lavi woke…papa was gone…" Lavi mumbled through sobs.

"Tch. I just went to take a shower." The dark-haired man picked the child up and went over to the bed. "It's still early. Why're you up?"

Lavi burrowed his head into Kanda's chest, his little hands clutching fistfuls of damp, black hair. "Bad dreams…" he mumbled.

"Huh? What bad dreams?" Kanda asked, frowning.

"Lavi was all alone."

_All…alone?_ Kanda thought uneasily. He wondered if little Lavi was influenced by big Lavi's thought process at all. If he was then…

"You're not alone." Kanda murmured as he put a hand on the back of the boy's head and held him there in an awkward sort of hug.

"Is…is papa with me?" the boy muttered.

"Yeah, I'm with you." Kanda replied. _Because it's my fault that you feel this way._ He didn't say that bit out loud though.

"Thank you…"

Kanda pulled back to look down at the boy. _Just now…he sounded…a little like his usual self…_ But nothing had changed. Lavi was still a little baby.

"Papa?" Lavi frowned, meeting his searching gaze with puzzlement.

"It's nothing. Come on, let's go clean you up. They'll be serving breakfast soon." He stood up and put the boy down and led him out of the room.

* * *

Breakfast was a quiet affair because none of the others had woken yet. Jerry stalled them to "talk" with Lavi, which mostly just consisted of cooing and awing over "this little bundle of cuteness".

"Isn't he just adorable?! What do you think, Kanda?"

Kanda raised an eyebrow. "What do I think about what?"

"His cuteness, of course!" Jerry replied enthusiastically.

"Er…" Kanda looked at the boy in his arms. Lavi was looking up with undeniable hope. Kanda shrugged. Lavi _was_ kind of cute. "I suppose he is."

"You _suppose_?!" Jerry exclaimed, as if he were offended at such a vague response. "What do you mean you _suppose_?"

But that was enough for baby Lavi as he smiled and laid his head on Kanda's shoulder. "Doesn't matter. Can I get food for this kid and myself?" Kanda asked, sounding bored. Idle chatter was a waste of time…not that he actually had anything to be getting on with though.

After breakfast, Lavi wanted to go to the library. "The library? What're _you_ gonna do at the library?" Kanda demanded.

"Read." Lavi answered simply.

So, not knowing how else to spend the time, Kanda decided to indulge the kid a little and went to the library. Since his friendship with Lavi had strengthened, he'd been going to the library a lot more often than he'd previously done.

Lavi usually liked to spend his time in the library, where he got on with 'work'. It wasn't really work, since he wasn't a Bookman anymore. But he liked to write logs anyway. Kanda had asked once why Lavi wrote them when he had no need to do so. Lavi had replied that it was something to keep his record-keeping skills intact. Kanda had left it at that.

"There's no kids' section, you know." he told the little boy.

"Read with papa?" Lavi requested.

Kanda shrugged. "All right, guess it couldn't hurt."

Lavi took a long time to pick out a book. Kanda was getting impatient. "Just pick one already! Damn!"

The child was getting used to Kanda's frequent violent outbursts. He didn't start crying every time he got yelled at by the dark-haired man. Though he was still upset. "O-okay…" he mumbled and picked up the nearest book and held it out for Kanda to see. Kanda rolled his eyes and took the tome.

"'Questions and Answers about the Natural World'?" He cocked an eyebrow at the title. "You sure you want to read this?"

Lavi nodded, looking down at the floor.

"Ok." Kanda walked over to a table and set the boy down in one chair and went to drag another one over for himself. Lavi was looking down at the book. It was almost as big as he was, because he was tiny. Kanda found it amusing. "You want me to read?"

"Lavi read." Lavi mumbled as he struggled to open the book. Kanda took it from him and set it out on the table and opened it up to the first page.

"There. You can't possibly read that." He scoffed, looking down at the small letters. But there were several pictures on the page.

"Lavi read a little."

"If you say so."

Lavi's head barely cleared the top of the table so he had to stand up and look down at the book to read. Kanda was surprised when he started reading; for a three-year-old, it was pretty darn good. Kanda wasn't sure what age children started to read fluently but he was sure Lavi's reading ability was far, _far_ above average.

"'Why do…m-most…fish…have slime?"

"Slim."

"Slim tap-tapring…?"

"Tapering."

"Tapering…bodies?"

"Yeah."

"'Why do most fish have slim tapering bodies?'" he looked up, happy that he'd got it all. Kanda patted his head. He turned back to the book, "most cre…crea…?" he trailed off.

"Creatures." Kanda supplied.

"Creatures that spen…spend the…their wole?"

"Whole."

"L-lives…"

"L_i_ves; plural of life. Not to live."

"Oh. Ok. Most creatures that spend their whole lives in water?"

"Yeah."

Lavi repeated sentences that he'd already covered without any problem. Kanda wondered if that was the photographic memory or something. "Most creatures that spend their whole lives in water have a…uh…sleek?"

"Uh-huh."

"Um…what's this word? It's long. Stre…"

"Streamlined."

"Streamlined shape…"

It got boring after a while. Lavi lost his enthusiasm and Kanda was prepared to go to sleep. Well, they got through a page, at least. And Kanda never wanted to read anything more about fish…or look at any tiny words on paper; he wasn't an English teacher, goddammit! And, also, as a three year old, Lavi's linguistic capabilities were almost eerie!

They were walking out of the library when Kanda decided to stop by the room that Lavi stayed in. _Come to think of it, he must have more eye patches, right?_ He thought, looking at the bandanna covering the redhead's ruined eye.

He opened the door and stepped through. "Don't touch anything, okay?" he said to the boy. He'd come in here loads of times and when he'd made a disgusted face at the mess of papers lying around on the floor, Lavi had warned him not to move anything around. Even though it was a mess, it was an orderly mess; Lavi knew where everything was.

"Ok." Lavi clutched Kanda's pant leg and stuck by closely as they went further into the room. Kanda went over to the closet and pulled it opened. He saw shirts and trousers hung up, along with Exorcist uniforms that had not been worn for a good few months now, since the war had ended. There were also loads of bandannas and undergarments in the drawers at the bottom but no eye patches.

But he saw something which made him scoff. Taped to the inside of the closet doors were four photographs, two to each side. Those had been taken not long after the war ended, when everyone's injuries had started to heal and the Exorcists had 'officially' served their purpose.

One photograph was of Lavi, Allen, Lenalee, Krory, Miranda, Marie, Timothy, and Kanda altogether. The one beneath that one was of Allen, Lenalee, Lavi, and Kanda. The other two were of just Lavi and Kanda. Kanda looked annoyed in all of them, because back then, Lavi had forced him to get his picture taken. It was amusing looking back on it now though.

_Geez, Lavi, you've started to become a sentimental old fart_, Kanda thought. Ah well, at least he didn't keep them at his bedside. That would be the worst; Kanda would have gone berserk at having his picture displayed. He contemplated taking down the ones of just him and Lavi but decided against it; it wasn't like they were doing anyone any harm inside the closet.

"Papa," he felt a pull at his leg and looked down.

"Hmm?"

Lavi looked up at him pleadingly. "Wee-wee."

Kanda sighed and closed the closet. "Can't you go yourself? You know where the toilets are, right?"

"But papa has to come too!"

"Why do I have to?"

"Because!"

"That's the most idiotic reason I've ever heard." But he went with the boy anyway (mostly because he didn't want to go back to his room just to get the kid another pair of pants in case he had an "accident").

He wondered what he should do for the rest of the day. Normally, Lavi's presence always provided a distraction from boredom but it wasn't like Kanda could beat up his friend's smaller self just for the hell of it. If Lavi was feeling particularly adventurous, he'd sometimes force Kanda to get his coat and they'd go explore town for a while. Lavi was really the only one who kept Kanda from hibernating in his room all day.

But now he couldn't even do that because he had to babysit this brat! He looked down at the little boy clinging onto the material of his pants with a sour look. _He's an idiot! He just had to be reckless, didn't he? He's going to pay for this when the two weeks are up!_ The dark-haired man thought.

* * *

Lunch came and went. Allen and Lenalee were missing so Komui asked (threatened) everyone to look for them, because he was convinced Allen was up to no-good with the cute and innocent Lenalee. He couldn't make Kanda join in though, so the former Exorcist watched on while everyone turned the entire building upside down, too scared to take it easy what with the mean-looking drill in Komui's hands as the Supervisor patrolled the corridors.

Miranda was around so Kanda all but ordered her to hang around with Lavi, just so he could make the little boy let go of his leg. Miranda did not seem at all at ease.

Around teatime, Krory, Allen, and Lenalee just walked calmly through the front entrance, laughing and joking, their arms laden with shopping bags. Komui, in hysterics by now, rushed up to them and demanded where on earth the devilish white-haired boy had taken his precious sister to.

"Um…brother, please…" Lenalee began.

"NO! WHO KNOWS WHAT HE COULD HAVE BEEN DOING WITH YOU?!" Komui said with streams of tears running down his cheeks.

Allen looked at a loss. "Er…I'm sorry…?"

"YOU THINK KIDNAPPING MY SISTER IS OKAY IF YOU COME BACK AND SAY YOU'RE SORRY, YOU EVIL LITTLE BRAT?!"

"Huh?! What're you talking about?! I didn't kidnap her!"

"Yeah, we just went shopping." Krory added helpfully.

"BE QUIET! Lenalee…!" Komui started fussing over his little sister, until she got annoyed to the point where she landed a chop on his head, thus sending him to the floor unconscious.

"Well, how about we go get some tea?" she suggested with a smile as she brushed her hands off.

_S-scary_, Allen thought as a shudder ran down his spine. "Sure!"

In the cafeteria, they found an anxious Miranda trying to entertain a gleeful Lavi. Kanda was, as usual, his indifferent self as he watched over his little charge while drinking tea.

The three newcomers came to sit at the table. Lavi's happy grin faded as Allen greeted them all and he scooted right into Kanda's side.

"I feel sudden hostility…" Allen mumbled.

"It's an automatic reaction to your annoying presence." Kanda informed matter-of-factly.

"I wasn't talking about you." the white-haired boy huffed, looking at Lavi.

Lavi stared back with a glare, clutching the sleeve of Kanda's shirt with tiny hands. Allen, in turn, glared at Kanda. Kanda leant his head against one propped up fist and appeared to be paying no attention to his surroundings.

"So, what have you guys been doing all day?" Lenalee asked.

"Aunty and Papa and Lavi played!" Lavi answered happily.

"Oh, it's a happy family, I see," Allen said, his tone sarcastic. "How surprising! Kanda can actually act like a human!" Kanda kicked the boy's shin under the table. "Ow! What's your problem, Kanda?!"

Kanda glared at him. "Care to repeat what you just said?"

"Huh! Who'd want to waste their breath of you?! Stupid Kanda!"

Kanda was about to retort but Lenalee beat him to it. "Allen, please try to act civil."

"But he kicked me!"

"And who started it?" she asked with a raised eyebrow. Allen grudgingly conceded defeat and took to glaring silently at Kanda instead. Lenalee smiled sweetly.

Kanda paid him no mind as he felt a tug on his sleeve. "What?"

"Lavi want milk." the little boy said.

"You've already had some."

"Lavi want more!"

"Geez, you're being spoilt today." Kanda grumbled as he took Lavi's empty glass and went to get some milk. Lavi followed, of course, clutching Kanda's pant leg as he did so.

"He's oddly tolerant." Miranda mumbled as the four at the table watched them go.

"That's only because it's Lavi." Krory informed.

"I wonder what it'd have been like if it had been Allen instead." Lenalee mused.

Allen shuddered as images of violence and bloodshed filled his mind. Yes, Lavi was the only exception to the aloof and cold front that Kanda put up before everybody.

Sometimes, though, this wasn't clear.

_Thud__._

Something clattered to the floor. A sudden wailing echoed in the great chamber. Everyone in the cafeteria turned to look towards the kitchen hatch.

"You idiot!" Kanda snapped, looking down disapprovingly at the little wailing boy.

The glass of hot milk had slipped from Lavi's grasp and had spilt down his front and burnt his hands. Thick tears were coming out of his eyes and the sound he was making was horrific and pained.

"Lavi!" Lenalee rushed over and fell to her knees beside the little boy. She tried to take him in her arms but he pulled away from her, still bawling. His red, scalded hands were shaking.

"Kanda! Do something!" Lenalee snapped, looking up at the dark-haired man.

Kanda was at a loss. Lavi was in pain but he didn't know what to do about that! "Wh-what do you expect _me_ to do?!" he sputtered.

"Comfort him, idiot! You're the only one he'll let near him! Take him to the nurse!" When Kanda still didn't move, she yelled, "QUICKLY!"

"OK! I'm going!" He picked up the crying baby as gently as he could and rushed out of the cafeteria. Lavi didn't move to make himself more comfortable, as he usually did when Kanda picked him up, just continued to wail loudly. Kanda hated the cries. Not only because it was noisy and annoying but because it discomfited him to see the child in such a state.

He pulled the little body against his chest and sighed. "It's all right." he murmured. "It's just a little burn. You'll be fine so stop crying like someone just cut your arm off." Lavi's wails increased in pitch. Kanda groaned. So much for trying to calm him down with words…though he could have been a little more subtle…

"I'm sorry." he tried, patting the boy's back awkwardly. "It's okay. Lavi, c'mon, stop crying."

Slowly, _very_ slowly, the loud screams died down to low whimpers and the little boy burrowed his head into Kanda's neck. His tiny hands clenched tightly onto the material of Kanda's damp shirt (made so by Lavi's tears and the milk spilt down the little boy's front) and he sniffled.

Kanda breathed a sigh of relief as he pushed open the door to the medical wing and sought out the nurse.

In the end, after Lavi (grudgingly) let the Head Nurse take a look at his hands and change his wet clothes (and also provide him with a real eye patch), Kanda was the one who got scolded for handing a glass of hot, _hot_ milk to a little child. "Children have flimsy grasps!" she cried. "What were you thinking?! Didn't it occur to you that he might drop it?! You should be more careful around children!"

He appeared not to be interested as he folded his arms across his chest and started at the far wall of the room as if he saw something interesting there. But he really did feel ashamed. A little baby…no, this _particular_ little baby was hurting because of him.

She gave up after a few minutes of rambling and gave him some instructions for taking care of the little boy. The bandages were to stay on for a few days, until he stopped trying to scratch his hands so much, and this special ointment should be applied nightly, etc.

As they were walking out, Lavi called out. "Papa?"

"Hmm?"

"Pick up?"

Kanda didn't refuse as he hoisted the boy up in his arms and walked back to the hall. He figured the others would want to know whether Lavi was all right or not. Otherwise they'd all come knocking at his door later and he could do without that annoyance.

"Lavi!" Lenalee and Miranda called out as they entered the cafeteria. But Lavi didn't feel like talking and turned his face into Kanda's shoulder.

"He's fine." Kanda said blankly.

The women both breathed sighs of relief. "I'm so glad. He didn't get burned too badly, did he?"

Kanda shook his head curtly. Allen snorted and, now that the worry was out of the way, he returned to his usual self. "Nice going, stupid Kanda. Giving kids glassfuls of hot liquids isn't exactly smart."

And, for once, Kanda didn't retort back angrily. Instead, he just turned around and strode out of the hall. Allen balked as he watched the dark-haired man go. "Eh…? He didn't…" he turned to Lenalee and the others, pointing at the door where Kanda had just left from and then at himself, gaping openly. "…Was it something I said?"

Lenalee just rolled her eyes.

* * *

Um...about the reading thing; there is absolutely NO WAY a three year old can read like that!!!!!!!!! But...this is Lavi the super-baby we're talking about so please let it slide :( (I hate not being accurate, y'see) actually, that bit was just supposed to show that he's not like normal three year olds :)


	5. Exchanging Guardians

"Open up."

"Aah." Lavi's lips closed around a pair of chopsticks. He was having soba today.

In front of Kanda were two servings of soba, the bigger one for himself and the smaller plate for the little boy (Jerry was very particular about food not being wasted).

They were almost done when the others came to eat. Kanda usually arrived early just so he could avoid the others but, more often than not, he got stuck sitting with them because the normal Lavi insisted that they should stay awhile and chat. And this time he got held up by little Lavi taking too long to eat.

But when the others came to sit at the usual table, Lavi climbed into Kanda's lap and refused to talk. Allen was freaked out. Miranda looked a little hurt. Krory was surprised Kanda didn't swat the little boy away. Lenalee smiled sympathetically.

"Do you hands hurt, Lavi?" Allen asked in a friendly manner.

Lavi looked up at Kanda. _What does he want? My approval?_ Kanda wondered. When he didn't get the expected reaction, Lavi turned back to regard Allen silently. He continued to stare for a long while, until Allen started to feel uncomfortable and industriously dug into his meal. "Lavi hands hurt a little."

The white-haired former Exorcist looked up, cheeks puffed out due to the huge intake of food. Kanda felt his lip curling in disgust so he looked elsewhere. Allen forced his food down and then smiled. "Is that right?"

Lavi nodded.

"Then that's good! If it doesn't hurt too much, then that must mean you're recovering, right?"

He nodded once more. There was a thoughtful frown on his little face, as if he were trying to figure something out. He looked up at Kanda again.

"What?" Kanda asked.

The boy pointed a finger at Allen. "Bean sprout?"

A tick mark appeared on Allen's face. "It's Allen! Don't listen to the garbage that Kanda tells you!"

Kanda wasn't in the mood to argue so he let it slide. Lavi seemed to find this confusing. "Papa…?" but he seemed unable to convey what he wanted to say so he just kept glancing between the British youth and the man with the dark hair.

"I think he's confused because he doesn't feel any hostility." Lenalee informed.

"So what?" Kanda asked.

She smiled. "So, since you're not exchanging any harsh words, he's confused as to how he should act towards Allen."

"What does _that_ matter?"

It was Krory who answered. "He favours you over Allen so he doesn't want to displease you, I take it."  
Kanda snorted. "What do I care how you treat other people?" He raised a hand to ruffle the boy's red hair. "_He's_ your friend too."

"But…papa…" Lavi stared at Allen again. Allen grinned. Lavi looked back up at "papa". He truly seemed at a loss. Kanda felt an amused smile tugging at the corners of his lips.

"If you want to talk, then talk. I'm not stopping you." he said indifferently. "But I'm going."

"No! Papa!" Lavi clung onto the Asian man tightly.

Kanda didn't know why he felt so smug at that moment. Allen seemed disappointed. "You could stay awhile longer."

"Sorry, I have better things to do." Kanda said blankly as he stood up, holding his burden securely in his arms.

As they were walking out, Lavi looked back over Kanda's shoulder and waved at Allen. Allen waved back, a small smile curling the corner of his lips.

"Seems to have gotten better." Krory commented.

"Yeah, you two should argue less. Maybe Lavi doesn't like it…you know, normally," Lenalee said thoughtfully.

"But you guys said he was reacting to how Kanda spoke to me." Allen reminded them.

Miranda shrugged. "It could be _just_ that. But I don't think Lavi really likes it when the two of you argue. You're his closest friends, after all."

* * *

"Papa?"

Kanda was barely awake. "Hmm…?"

"Bean sprout a bad person?"

Kanda turned around so he was facing the little boy. Not that he could see; he'd turned the light off before getting ready to sleep and there was no light coming in from the window. What a curious question to ask, he felt. "No…he's not."

"Why does papa hate him?"

"I don't hate him. He just…annoys me."

"Why?"

"I don't know…"

"Eh…?"

"I said I don't know. This is hardly the time to be thinking about such things. Go to sleep."

Lavi's tiny form snuggled against Kanda's torso and the man patted his head. "Night, papa."

"Hmm…" Kanda mumbled. But sleep wouldn't claim him.

His thoughts kept revolving around the same things. The burns and bandages, the anguish he'd felt for that incident, and now the thing at dinnertime. Why did he feel so weird? Lavi hadn't wanted to stay with Allen and he'd felt smug about that…Usually, he couldn't give more of a damn who Lavi spent his time with…well, he did, but only a little.

Could it be…he valued this kid's presence? And his attachment to Kanda? Kanda was starting to feel like a real parent and he kind of…enjoyed it. This idea was as a foreign one.

He gazed at the little figure by his side, pondering on this new idea. When Lavi smiled or asked to be picked up, Kanda felt like smiling…and there weren't many things which could make him want to do that. When Lavi clung onto Kanda's arm or leg to prevent himself being left behind, Kanda felt…gladdened.

No, that was ridiculous. Hadn't Kanda already accepted that this whole thing was just something that was unavoidable? And wasn't he going to murder Lavi when he went back to normal? And hadn't he vowed that he'd never have kids of his own because they were so bothersome to look after? There was no way he was starting to feel like a parent after just a day and a half!

But maybe it was just because it was his best friend. That had to be it. It was because this little kid was his best friend and needed Kanda's support, Kanda had to act with…feeling. Had it been someone else, he wouldn't have felt so strongly.

He sighed. _Why am I thinking about such useless things?_ It hardly mattered what he felt, did it? After these two weeks were up, everything would be back to normal. Everything would play out and this stupid thing would end.

_Just two weeks…_he thought as he drifted off.

* * *

In the morning, after Kanda's usual shower subsequent to his daily training, he went back to his room to find Lavi wailing again. The child really didn't like being left on his own. Kanda resolved to start waking up earlier.

Lenalee and Allen had something planned for lunch that day. "We're all having a picnic!" Lenalee said with a jubilant smile as everybody was having breakfast.

"And?" Kanda inquired.

"You and Lavi are invited to come too." Allen replied.

Kanda snorted and pointed to the little boy sitting in his lap. "You can take him but I'm not going."

"Lavi stay with papa!" Lavi cried, clutching Kanda's hand in both his little bandaged ones.

"So it's settled then," Lenalee said. "You're both coming."

"I am not!" Kanda huffed. But Lavi looked up hopefully. "If you want to go with them, then go."

"But papa not coming…" Lavi's big green eye was pleading.

Not wanting to disappoint the boy, Kanda sighed and gave in. "Whatever." It was all Lavi's fault his once strong and stubborn will was getting softened so easily. Everything was this damned redhead's fault.

"Yay!"

But he didn't mind as Lavi gave him a big, bright smile.

* * *

When Komui learnt of this "picnic", he was suspicious as to what it might entail so he invited himself. So, at lunchtime, after the three Exorcists and the little redhead had sorted everything out and had sat themselves down, Komui arrived and, smiling widely, he parked himself down beside his sister after knocking Allen aside. "So, a picnic, eh?" he said. "I haven't been to one of those in years! I remember, before Lenalee discovered her Innocence, when we used to live in China, we used to have picnics all the time!"

Lenalee looked embarrassed. "Brother…please…"

Komui laughed at his sibling's discomfort. "But my sweet Lenalee was so cute back then! Actually, you haven't changed at all! You're adorable! Give brother a hug, Lenalee!" And, arms spread wide, the Chinese man turned to embrace his sister…

Only to be sent sailing into the air and out of sight by a very powerful punch. Lenalee turned back to find the others giving her strange looks. She smiled. "Let's get on with the picnic, shall we?"

"Y-yes, ma-am," Allen responded dutifully, looking more than just a little pale. Lenalee seemed to be getting scarier all the time.

Kanda and Lavi hadn't been paying much attention to what was happening around them. They were having an argument, of a sort, over the various foodstuffs that littered the little boy's lap and the place where he sat.

"Lavi, you're making a mess! Eat properly, would you?"

"B-but Lavi try everything!"

"Yeah, but you have to finish one thing first! Tch, you're so spoilt!"

"But, papa!"

"Don't "but, papa" me, boy! One thing at a time, you hear me?"

Directly across the sheet that they'd laid out for the picnic, Allen suddenly began choking and Lenalee was trying to save his life. She shoved a glass of water down his throat and he was well again. "Th-thanks, Lenalee," he gasped. He glanced over at Kanda and Lavi. Kanda gently bonked Lavi over the head after yelling "I said no more!" The white-haired boy sniggered. "These guys are killin me."

"Papa?" Lavi asked, looking up at Kanda with the area around his mouth stained by a great many things.

Kanda's lip curled in disgust. "What?"

The little boy pointed one little finger in Allen's direction. "Why he laughing?"

Kanda glanced over at the bean sprout. Indeed, Allen did look like he was unsuccessfully trying to stifle a fit of giggles. The man's brows furrowed into an angry frown. It was obvious who Allen was laughing at. And Kanda didn't like being laughed at. "He just feels his oncoming death and knows that he can't do anything about it so he's gone insane." he informed the little boy through gritted teeth.

"Ha! As if!" Allen snorted.

Lavi's one green eye was round with wonder. "Is bean sprout going to die?"

"Hey!" Allen protested. "I'm not going to die!"

"You sure about that, bean sprout?" Kanda said in an eerie tone of voice. To add to the effect, the ominous sound of knuckles being cracked could be heard.

"Papa…?" Lavi looked up at the dark-haired man, his head cocked to the side and his expression thoughtful, trying to process the meaning behind the dark aura which had suddenly surrounded his "papa".

Allen snorted, though he seemed to see the evil aura too. "Wh-what, and you're going to be the one to kill me, are you? As if you could!"

"Want me to try?" Kanda asked in the same eerie voice.

"Papa…?" Lavi mumbled again, tugging at Kanda's sleeve this time. "Papa?"

"Hold on a minute, Lavi," a feral grin was tugging at Kanda's lips and he stood up, "I need to straighten something out with the bean sprout over there."

Never one to back down when it came to arguments with Kanda, Allen stood up too, "What? You're asking for a fight?"

The sparks that flew between them were practically visible.

"Maybe. It's about time someone put you in your place, isn't it, bean sprout?" The disturbing grin was still in place on Kanda's lips.

Lavi had stood up too, looking from Kanda to Allen and back, his green eye wide with worry and sudden fear. He looked like he was about to start crying. "Pa…pa…" he mumbled, but his feeble cry went unheard by Kanda and Allen.

But Lenalee noticed. "You two," she sighed, "can you please not fight? You've made Lavi anxious."

Kanda looked down. The dark aura seemed to disappear immediately as he took in the little boy's near-crying expression. He knelt down. "What's the matter?" he asked.

"Papa…fight…" the boy mumbled, rubbing at his eye and looking down, "Lavi…scared…"

Before Kanda could say anything to that, Allen spoke up. "Nice one, Kanda. You scared him."

"Shut up." Kanda hissed, shooting a quick glare at the white-haired boy before returning his gaze to Lavi. "What're you scared for? It's not like I'm gonna hit _you_."

The boy shook his head. "People…hurt…when people fight…"

"Yeah, that's the whole point of a fight," Kanda snorted.

"Geez, try to be a little more subtle, you moron!" Allen snapped. "He's trying to tell you that he doesn't like people fighting because a lot of other people get hurt because of it and you're comin out with such insensitive crap!"

"Well, if you're such a genius with children then why won't he listen to you?" Kanda shot back, pissed off because Allen had read it right and he'd been wrong.

"Huh." Allen scoffed. "We all know he's not got a choice but to stick by you. I truly feel sorry for him."

"If that's so, then take him." Kanda said icily. He stood up again and reached down to lift up the little boy. Lavi cried out. Kanda ignored the boy and walked around the sheet and went to stand before Allen. "Take him."

"No!" Lavi cried out again, clinging onto Kanda with all his might.

Allen looked up at him. "What are you, stupid? He doesn't want to."

"But you're obviously convinced that you're more suited to the role of babysitter than I am so take him." Kanda said indifferently, ignoring Lavi's wailing and holding him out at arm's length. Lavi was kicking and flailing about, yelling out against being taken away from his "papa" but Kanda's will didn't waver.

Allen stood up, his white brows furrowed thoughtfully. "You're serious?"

"I don't kid around." Kanda snorted. "Take him."

"All right." Allen held his arms out and took the child. Lavi's squirming kicked up a notch but he couldn't free himself from Allen's grip. Kanda let go when he was sure Allen was holding tightly onto the little boy, looking as nonchalant as ever.

"Papa!" Lavi's cry was frantic but Kanda didn't respond as he turned and walked away.

"I-it's okay, Lavi," Allen tried to reassure the infant. "I'll look after you." He smiled.

This had no effect on Lavi. "No! Papa! PAPA! PAPA!" His shouts became half-nonsensical after he started sobbing. Kanda's figure was getting smaller and smaller as the dark-haired man approached the Black Order building and finally disappeared inside it. "_PAPA_!"

Kanda's back met the cool wood of the entrance door as he closed it behind him and fell against it. That last cry he'd heard had been almost hysterical. Lavi was crying really badly. It was just as bad as when he'd burnt his hands with the milk…except, he'd not been yelling for Kanda that time.

_Why…does this affect me so?_ Kanda thought, running his hand over his face and then over his hair, suddenly looking very weary.

After he'd shut the door, he couldn't hear Lavi's cries anymore. But he was still tempted to run out there and take the kid back but he didn't do it. He was sure Allen would do a better job of looking after Lavi.

Ignoring the tightness in his heart, he forced himself to continue on.

* * *

"This is exhausting!" Allen complained as he pulled the blanket up to Lavi's chin.

"It's because he doesn't want to be away from Kanda." Lenalee informed with a sigh. "I think you should take him back. What you boys are doing isn't good for Lavi, as a child."

Allen turned to the girl, looking indignant. "This isn't my fault! Kanda's the one acting like a woman during that time of the month! I stated a fact and he knew I was right and it pissed him off and he got all moody because of it! He just can't take it when it's proven that I'm smarter than he is."

Lenalee heaved another sigh and stepped closer to Allen. "Take him back, in a while, okay?" she said softly, lifting up a hand and gently caressing Allen's cheek with it. Allen looked conflicted. He gazed over at the little boy.

There were still traces of tears on the infant's cheek. Lavi had not once stopped calling for "papa" and he'd cried himself to sleep. It had been terrible to listen to. Allen didn't want to hear that again. He sighed and, wrapping his fingers around Lenalee's wrist, he kissed the palm of her hand. "I will."

She smiled. "I'm glad you're not being stubborn about this."

He shrugged. "I don't want to hear him cry like that again. I don't want to hear _any_ child cry like that again. And it's obvious he won't be quietened unless he's with Kanda." He let go of Lenalee's wrist and went to sit at the edge of the bed. "He'd be happier that way. He's always happier that way."

"In what way?" Lenalee asked.

"Being with Kanda. Ever since Bookman left, he's spent more time with Kanda than he has with the rest of us."

"Why're you worried about that, Allen?" she went to stand beside him, resting one hand on his shoulder. He turned his head to bury his face in the soft material of her shirt and she held him against her waist.

He didn't distance himself as he spoke so Lenalee felt his words drumming against her stomach. "Because Lavi chose such a person as his best friend. Kanda has an inability to show his concern so why does Lavi confide in him the most? Why does he trust _him_ the most…?"

Lenalee sighed again. "You're not jealous, are you? It's up to Lavi who he trusts the most."

Allen shook his head. "Not jealous, no. Just…concerned. He doesn't want to hear anything from the rest of us on the choice that he made but Kanda, though he's all right to say anything on the subject, doesn't ever say anything encouraging, he doesn't try to help Lavi to get out of this depression that he's in and…and I suppose I do envy his closeness to Lavi in that respect…because I'd do something about it."

Smooth fingers combed through Allen's hair. "You know, there's a reason why Lavi trusts in Kanda so much; I remember, ever since Kanda came to the Black Order and we became friends, he was the only one I could go to when I wanted to be alone but nobody seemed to be able to understand that. I was thankful for their concern but I just…wanted some room to breathe, you know? Kanda never questioned me, but his presence…his support…was unmistakable. It…was good to be around him during those times…" she smiled. "And that's why he doesn't need to say anything to Lavi to make him feel better; as long as he's there, Lavi will be just that little bit happier."

"Is he that strong…?" Allen mumbled, breaking away to look up at her.

She smiled again and nodded. "He doesn't need to _show_ his concern; the people close to him can feel it anyway."

* * *

Some AllenLenalee for ya there :) And boo! Kanda's such a bastard sometimes! I wonder if he's in character...I'm sure he goes out of character sometimes...but, like I said, I do like to be accurate so, if you feel that Kanda's OOC, lemme know, yo!


	6. The Bean Sprout's Thoughts

Lol, I left last chapter with quite a weird ending, huh? Sorry, it's just that, when I write I don't tend to sort by chapter; it's just a whole bunch of text with a break every so often so it's a pain sorting out which chapter should begin and end when, and it's troublesome because sometimes, the break between huge chunks of text can come after many pages and I try to keep one chapter as long as five pages, and sometimes it doesn't work out...sorry!

Oh, and yeh, this story is AllenLenalee on the side too so I do apologise to anyone who is not a fan of the pairing but there's only one more tiny little fluffy bit to go before their moments disappear from this story...cuz this is a story about Lavi and Kanda :)

Thank you all for taking your time out to reading this! ^_^

* * *

Kanda had been meditating, trying to take his mind off of Lavi's current situation, when he was interrupted by a knock at the door. He sighed and went to answer it.

He was a little surprised to find Allen standing there. He cocked a dark eyebrow. "What is it? Giving up already? It's barely been forty-five minutes."

"What, you're keeping count?" Allen retorted. Without waiting to listen to the response he'd get, he turned on his heel and strode away. "Follow me."

"What, you really expect me to come?" Kanda snorted.

"You don't have to. I'm just putting my pride to the side awhile because I care about that child's wellbeing. I thought you might do the same." Allen shrugged without turning back. "But you're free to prove me wrong."

Kanda gritted his teeth. Was that bastard trying to mock him? Couldn't he go one day without actively trying to get on Kanda's nerves?

After deliberating awhile, he heaved a sigh and stepped over the threshold of his room and closed the door behind him. "Tch…what a pain…" he muttered as he caught up to Allen. "So, what, you couldn't just bring him over?"

"He's sleeping. If I picked him up he might have woken up and then he'd start crying again. He cried himself to sleep, you know. It was really bad."

Kanda didn't want to imagine it. He felt terrible for having instigated something like that. What kind of a guardian would be okay with their charge bawling at the top of their lungs?

There was silence as they walked to Allen's room. But before Allen opened the door, he stopped and moved to face Kanda. "I wanted to apologise."

Thrown off a little, Kanda's response came out quicker than he'd meant for it to. "What? What for?"

Allen shrugged. "I'm not really sure."

And before Kanda could mock the boy for providing such a vague answer, Allen opened the door and stepped inside.

Lenalee was there, sitting at the foot of Allen's bed, watching over the infant fast asleep on the other side as she read a book. Kanda didn't bother closing the door behind him. All he had to do was get the baby and go. He strode over to the bed but as he made to lift Lavi up, Lenalee spoke. "Why don't you wait for him to wake up?"

"What for?"

"Because…hopefully, if he wakes to see the two of you on all right terms then he won't feel any antagonism towards Allen." she replied, holding his gaze in all seriousness.

"It doesn't really matter; it's not like he's going to retain any of the feelings he's showing towards you guys when he turns back to normal." Kanda said.

"He might."

Kanda sighed. "Whatever." He turned around and, not seeing a chair or any other place to sit, he strode over to the window and perched on the ledge.

There was an awkward silence in the room. Lenalee studiously bent her head over her book to avoid looking at Allen and his guest. Kanda's gaze kept flickering between the view outside Allen's window and the sleeping baby, willing the child to wake up so they could get out of this place…but Lavi's naps usually lasted two hours, at the least.

Allen was standing by the door, leaning back against the wall looking casual but feeling anything but. His earlier discussion with Lenalee was still running through his mind. He cared deeply for all his friends (even Kanda, though he wouldn't _ever_ admit it out loud); like Lenalee, he'd come to think of everyone here as family and the Black Order HQ as home, and he didn't want any part of his family to be suffering. But he'd been worrying incessantly about Lavi since the time when they'd all gone to see Bookman off.

_Standing amid the Exorcists and the other HQ personnel who'd become friends with Lavi and his mentor, Allen was confused. They'd all come down to see Bookman and his apprentice off…or so they'd thought. But Bookman was the only one dressed in a long coat with bags in his hands, standing before the entrance to HQ looking set to go._

_Kanda and Lavi stood opposite where Allen and the others stood. The redhead was dressed in his usual attire, not at all like he was about to embark on a long journey. He was facing his old mentor but he was looking down at the floor._

"_Gramps…"_

"_I have nothing to say to you." Bookman said blankly. "I'll be taking my leave now."_

_Goodbyes were said. Everyone was confused now; wasn't Lavi going? Why was Bookman ignoring the young man?_

_The doors were opened and the little old man stepped through without once looking back. Allen kept exchanging puzzled glances with Lenalee. She had no clue what was going on either. And then he gazed towards Lavi but caught Kanda's eye instead. He frowned, trying to ask the older man without words or gestures what was happening because Kanda seemed to be the only one who didn't look bewildered by this strange incident. Kanda merely looked towards Lavi and Allen followed his gaze._

_Lavi looked like he was about to cry. It made everything clear._

"_He's not going." Allen mumbled, nudging Lenalee lightly with his elbow._

"_What?"_

"_He's not going. For whatever reason, he's not _ever_ going after Bookman." He looked away from Lavi and met Lenalee's eyes with his own. "He's made this decision…without even telling us…"_

"_Th-that can't be." Lenalee shook her head, still looking confused. "He wouldn't do that. Being a Bookman meant so much to him."_

"_That's what I thought too but…" Allen made to stride over to Lavi but Kanda blocked his path. Allen looked up at the long-haired man. "What?"_

"_Whatever you want to ask him, he won't talk." Kanda said, looking out the still open door at the retreating figure of Bookman._

"_I'll make him talk." Allen said with certainty._

"_He doesn't need that right now. Just leave him alone."_

_Allen narrowed his eyes. "I take it _you_ know what's going on?" He knew Kanda and Lavi were best friends but for Kanda to be the only one who knew of this absurd turn of events hurt Allen a fair bit…something this big should have been shared with everyone! Everybody here liked Lavi, cared about him and they'd all been prepared to say goodbye to him but he wasn't going…he wasn't going to pursue the life that he'd told everyone with zest that he wanted to live._

_Kanda shrugged._

"_So tell me."_

"_It's none of my business. If he wants to tell you, he'll tell you later." And, with that, Kanda turned and stalked off in the opposite direction._

_Lavi's gaze hadn't moved from the vanishing figure outside. Allen was still tempted to go over and ask what was going on but the redhead's expression hadn't shifted at all from what it had been since Allen had arrived here and he didn't want to upset Lavi further so he went back to Lenalee. Lavi waited until Bookman was out of sight before going after Kanda, his head bent and his gaze fixed firmly on the floor._

_For the next three days, Allen and the others saw neither hide nor hair of the redhead. Kanda was seen briefly during meals but he only came to the cafeteria, took an order for two, and then went back out again. They didn't see him between meals at all. Allen knew where they were; either at Lavi's room or the library. But he didn't go to see what was going on; Kanda's words were still going through his mind. _"If he wants to tell you, he'll tell you later."_ If Lavi hadn't come to tell them yet, then he either wasn't going to say anything at all, or he needed some more time alone. _

_Allen didn't understand why Kanda was the only one allowed near Lavi though. It wasn't like Kanda was that great a person to talk your discomfort out with; talking to him was like talking to a brick wall, for god's sake!_

_On the fourth day, they finally saw Lavi at breakfast. Kanda was at his side, looking as unconcerned about everything as ever. Lavi's appearance was slightly rugged; his hair fell about his face – unrestrained because the bandanna he usually wore was absent – and random strands were sticking up every which way, and something about his face just looked…different. When he came closer – pulling on a wide grin that was a poor rendition of his usual cheery, mischievous one – they realised a light stubble had grown across his lower face. It…did not suit him at all._

"_Hiya, guys!" he greeted as he came over to where the Exorcists sat._

"_Well, well, if it isn't the elusive Bookman apprentice," Allen retorted dryly. He'd chosen his words carefully, to see what effect they'd have on the redhead._

_Lavi's green eye, though trying to mimic the glint it usually had, suddenly held a guarded look and he almost turned away. The smile slipped but he was quick to pull it back on. "Haha, sorry about that! Guess you guys were worried, huh?"_

_Allen waved a hand, dismissing the statement. "No, no, what could we possibly have to worry about? You just made some huge decision without even telling us and then shut yourself in your room for three days; of course we weren't worried." An edge of bitterness had crept into his voice, making his utterance seem scornful…which wasn't exactly what he wanted but he was feeling pretty stubborn right about now. The guy had finally shown himself; Allen wanted to make him feel guilty._

_Lavi sighed. "I'm sorry." His eye roamed across the whole group, meeting everyone's gaze, and then he looked away. "I'm…sorry. But I didn't want to go. At least…not yet…"_

"_You could have told us this before we started wondering what the hell was going on." Allen snorted._

_The guarded look in Lavi's eye hadn't abated. It seemed to grow as he frowned and turned his head to look at Allen again. "Just…leave it be, okay? Please…"_

"_Leave it be?!" Allen snapped, letting the spoon that he'd been eating with clatter into his bowl as he stood up, looking furious. "You were obviously depressed about this and we all wanted to see if you were okay! But…we left you alone in the hopes that you'd be yourself again and explain what you did and why…because we were worried…but…" a weary sigh escaped him and, having run out of fuel to fire his angry outburst, he sat back down. "Leave it be, huh?"_

"_Why don't you just tell them?" another voice said and Allen looked up to see Kanda approaching the table with two meals in hand. He set his burden down, seeming to have a non-verbal conversation with Lavi as the two stared hard at one another._

_Something must have been decided on Lavi's end because, a few seconds later, he turned on his heel and strode away. "This doesn't concern them. Later, guys, I'm not feeling hungry."_

_Kanda watched him go, his dark brows furrowed in a thoughtful frown. And then he looked down at the extra meal he'd brought. "Tch…Jerry's gonna have my head for this. Hey, bean sprout, eat this."_

"_What am I, the dog you feed your leftovers to?"_

"_Precisely."_

"_Shut the fuck up, Kanda." _

"_Allen!" Lenalee reprimanded. It wasn't like Allen to swear so openly in front of Lenalee, but when he was feeling aggravated, it just came out. And Lavi was pissing him off. And to top it off, Allen kept imagining that Kanda felt smug about being the only one in the know…but of course, he knew he was imagining it; Kanda was a lot of things but childish wasn't one of them._

A heavy sigh escaped the white-haired boy, causing Lenalee to look up from her book. She sent him a questioning look but he smiled to assure her that it was nothing. Hesitantly, she went back to her book.

Allen didn't want to stay in this room with these people any longer; the atmosphere was uncomfortable. He suddenly felt like going for a walk. But before he did that, he thought it wouldn't hurt to make a dramatic exit.

"Hey, Kanda?"

Kanda turned away from the window and fixed his blank eyes on Allen. "What?"

"Take care of Lavi, okay? I mean…when he's back to normal."

Kanda scoffed. "What am I, his mom? He can take care of himself."

Allen's brow quirked in annoyance. The dramatic exit had just gone down the drain. "Not that way. I meant…since you're the one closest to him, you should watch out for him a lot more…"

"What, tired of acting like a mother to everyone so handing the role over, bean sprout?" Kanda smirked.

"Shut up! I'm trying to be serious here!"

"Tch…" Kanda fixed his eyes on the window again. "Like I said, he can take care of himself. Your concern is pointless."

"I was talking about his depression, you idiot! Are you even _trying_ to understand what I'm saying?!"

"Shut up, bean sprout. It's no use, all right?" Kanda didn't turn to look at the person he was addressing. His tone was blank, unfeeling, though his expression was distant. "There's nothing anybody can do for him except get him back to the old man and he's probably the only one who might have any clue as to where Bookman might be but he's being too stubborn to really do what he wants to do."

"But…he's suffering…" Allen mumbled, leaning back against the wall, forgetting all about the exit he'd been about to make.

"He already foresaw that when he made the decision to quit being a Bookman."

"Eh?" he blinked in rapid succession, trying to make sense of this new information, "then…if he knew it was going to be like this…why'd he do it?"

"Because he's an idiot." Kanda shrugged and stood up. He stopped before the bed and pulled back the blanket.

"Hey, I thought you were gonna wait for him to wake up?" Lenalee protested.

"It'll take too long." Kanda lifted up the baby and settled Lavi's head against his shoulder. The boy stirred and adjusted his position so he was more comfortable and then settled down again. A tiny fist clutched the part of Kanda's fringe which fell to his shoulders. "Papa…" the baby mumbled absently.

"Then…" Lenalee paused, not sure what to say. "If you need any help, we're here, right?" she smiled.

"Thanks."

Allen didn't bother saying anything as Kanda walked past him and left the room. He wanted to but he didn't. Kanda knew so much of what was going on with Lavi when Allen didn't and it made him feel a little…under-valued by one of his closest friends.

He sighed deeply and went to flop on his bed before Lenalee. "Why do I feel like a single parent worrying about my rebellious teenaged son who never talks to me?" he groaned.

Lenalee smiled. "Who knows? Maybe this is good practice for when you _do_ have kids."

He grinned suddenly as he leaned towards her, arms propped up on the bed on either side of where she sat. "Who do you suppose will be the mother of those kids?"

A light blush streaked across her cheeks. "Wh-what are you trying to imply?"

"Nothing much." He smiled as he gave her a soft kiss.

* * *

Eh, yeah...I'll try to avoid fluff from now on...it makes me feel..._awkward_ :|

Oh, and apologies for this chapter being a little shorter than usual. Next one's about the same length too :\

And, btw, I'm still up for suggestions for the title of this story. 'Childhood' _really_ doesn't fit but I dunno what else would :(


	7. Late Night

Hello, everybody! So, if you hadn't noticed already, this story gets updated every five days and I shall try my damned hardest to be consistent with that :)

To Ann On E. Mouse, the bath scene is going to come up in a few chapters XD and, yeah, I know I don't have ta write out every single day in the two weeks that Lavi's in that state but...I don't know! There's so much someone could write about what would happen if Lavi got turned into a kid but I'm sitting there with the document open before me and I think "ah, the hell with this! I'll deal with it later!" and then I start surfin the net. The net is going to be the death of my writer-self -facepalm- but it feels weird if I miss out a day :( but, yeh, I think it would be best to have a few peaceful days too :) so thanks for that! And Lavi getting lost in a crowdy place is an awesome idea but, since he has a flawless memory and all, if he couldn't find Kanda, he'd just go back home, right? And, anyway, he clings to Kanda all the time when there's other people around so...-sigh- but, thanks anyway :D and thanks for the review! ^_^

Actually, thank you to _everyone_ who reviewed! And those who read this silently too! Just as long as _somebody_'s reading this, I'll continue writing :)

* * *

Lavi's green eye opened slowly. The first thing he felt was an absence…where was papa? He began to sniffle as he sat up. He saw the image of papa walking away and he wanted to cry again. Did…papa not like Lavi? Did papa really want to hand Lavi over to someone else? Did papa…hate looking after Lavi? Was Lavi a burden?

But as the blanket fell to his waist and he got a wider view of the room, he saw papa sitting on the floor beside the door, with his back resting against the wall and his arms clutching his knees to his chest. "Papa!" All feelings of sadness vanished as euphoria enveloped the little boy and he vaulted out of bed (nearly falling face first onto the floor in his haste) and ran to papa. "Papa!"

But papa didn't move. Lavi stopped by the figure of the man and one tiny hand reached up to clutch the material of papa's sleeve and he gave it a soft tug. "Papa…?"

Papa's head slowly lifted up. "What…is it?" he asked around a yawn, rubbing at his eye at the same time.

"Papa!" Relieved, Lavi held his little arms up. "Pick up!"

Kanda groaned. "Gimme a break, will you? I wanna sleep." He yawned again and dropped his head back onto his arms.

Not used to this response, Lavi stood there awhile, unsure of what to do. "Papa…?" he mumbled, confused. He wanted to be picked up, because when papa picked him up, papa showed that he cared. "Papa?"

"Be quiet." Papa sounded cold sometimes. Lavi didn't like that but he could live with it because that was just the way papa was. But papa sounded exhausted now and that wasn't right because papa was never tired.

"Papa go sleep?"

"Yes. So shut up."

"Lavi go away?"

"Yes."

"Oh." Crestfallen and wanting to cry, Lavi turned to the door. But he couldn't reach the handle so he couldn't open it. Trying to hold in the tears that he usually let spill in front of papa without any regard for papa's feelings or wants, Lavi looked around the room in hopes of locating something which would give him a bit of height.

But he didn't find anything so he stumbled over to the window and climbed up onto the ledge to sit down and look outside, like papa had a tendency to do sometimes, as if he wanted to be out there…to be free of whatever was restraining him here. Was Lavi really a burden?

Mimicking papa's posture, he curled up and rested his head on his arms. He tried to hold off the sobs but he had no luck…so he tried to keep them down instead. Papa was sleeping.

A long time passed and Lavi was still crying when he suddenly felt himself being hoisted up into the air. Only to come to a stop against a very familiar shoulder. "It doesn't matter if you try to tone it down; I can still hear you crying, you know." papa's soft voice said somewhere above his head.

"Papa," he wiped the tears away with a fist and smiled as he squiggled around in papa's arms, trying to make himself comfortable.

"…I'm sorry." papa suddenly said.

Lavi pulled back to gaze questioningly at papa. "For…?"

"For a great many things." papa mumbled, leaning his forehead against Lavi's.

"It's okay, papa!" Lavi smiled and let his head fall to papa's shoulder again. "Let Lavi stay…Please?"

"Hmm? Stay where?" papa muttered in puzzlement.

"By papa."

He felt a hand on his back, a hand that was comfortingly big, just like papa's presence. The hand patted Lavi's small back twice and then was lifted away again. "We'll see how that works out in the future."

Now it was Lavi's turn to sound confused. He pulled back to look at papa. "Huh?"

Papa shook his head. "Never mind. So, what d'ya wanna do now?"

Lavi shrugged. "Anything papa wanna do."

"I wanna go to sleep." papa walked over to the bed and sat down. He set the baby on his lap. "So, did you have fun with the bean sprout?"

Lavi's smile wavered and the little hand clutching the material of papa's shirt tightened its hold. He couldn't remember what the bean sprout had done during the time Lavi had been in his care because the only thing Lavi kept seeing was papa walking away and it had made him sad.

The bean sprout – Allen, was his name, but papa called him bean sprout so Lavi would too – was an okay person. He spoke to Lavi nicely…nicer than papa did but…but why did he have to fight with papa? Why did he always have to say mean things to papa? When people said mean things to papa, papa got angry and everyone in papa's path felt that anger.

Papa shouldn't be angry because papa was a nice person at heart…otherwise he wouldn't look after Lavi, he wouldn't pick Lavi up when Lavi asked to be picked up, and he wouldn't hold onto Lavi tightly during those times at night when Lavi was overwhelmed by his bad dreams and ended up crying.

"Lavi miss papa." he mumbled.

"You really are a wuss."

He hadn't expected papa to say something sympathetic but the words, although expected, were said in manner different to the usual. They hadn't sounded harsh or annoyed, but rather soft and…as if laughingly. He looked up in surprise and saw an odd little smile curving the corner of papa's lips. How rare to see papa smile.

"Lavi sorry…" Lavi said.

"No need for you to be." papa replied indifferently as he set Lavi on the edge of the bed and then laid himself down. "I'm going to sleep."

"Lavi sleep too!"

"You just woke up!"

"But…but Lavi stay with papa!" Lavi didn't want to be away from papa. Lavi had to stay by papa and show papa that he could be a good boy…because then papa would never want to give Lavi away…like he had this afternoon.

Papa sighed in exasperation and sidled over to make room and turned his back on the little boy. "Fine, do whatever you want."

With a bright smile, Lavi made himself comfortable beside papa. But he couldn't go to sleep; he was wide awake now. So he just lay there, happy in the fact that papa was right beside him and he was in familiar territory.

He let his gaze travel around the familiar room and his eye fell on the hourglass containing the flower on the little table opposite the bed. He still remembered that first day when he'd found papa and then they'd gone to town to buy Lavi some clothes. He still remembered papa's expression as he'd slapped Lavi's hand away from the hourglass, a look of anger far deeper than the usual one in place on his pale face.

What was that thing? Lavi wanted to know but he got the feeling papa would be very angry with him if he inquired about the flower. That was also why Lavi had kept well away from that thing…he didn't want to risk papa hitting him again.

But he was so curious! There were times when he caught papa staring at that flower with the usual blank look on his face but…something beneath the surface was…melancholic. What did it mean? Lavi felt he knew the answer but it was out of reach…too, too far away...as if from another life or something similar.

Should he ask papa? Maybe papa wouldn't get angry…since papa had first started to take care of Lavi, papa didn't get frustrated with Lavi as much so maybe…maybe Lavi ought to ask. But then, what if papa did get angry? But he really wanted to know.

He turned around, wondering if papa was asleep yet. But he was a little surprised to see papa facing him, his dark eyes open. Lavi smiled and shuffled closer to papa, abandoning his curiosity for the moment. He felt papa's hand on his head, the long fingers combing through his red hair. Papa was being so…gentle. Did papa feel…sorry for giving Lavi to the bean sprout? Hadn't papa said he was sorry? So papa truly, _truly_ cared? It filled Lavi with a warm, pleasant feeling.

Neither papa said anything and nor did Lavi feel the need to speak. If he spoke, papa would probably let go. It was such a serene moment, a rarity when he considered that this was papa he was lying besides. Sure, papa could be calm…if no one was there to disturb his peace but he was often irritated with Lavi because Lavi didn't want to let him alone.

_I'll stay with papa forever_, Lavi thought with a radiant smile blooming across his lips. And although he'd just risen from a decent slumber, he found his eyelids drooping once again and he succumbed to sleep.

* * *

They ended up missing dinner. Kanda blamed it on Lavi, though it wasn't really his fault. He didn't mean it though. And he could have lived through not having one of his meals but Lavi couldn't. The little boy was hungry and wanted his food and he wouldn't shut up about it.

"Papa, Lavi hungry!"

"Well it's your fault we missed dinner anyway! Who told you to sleep so much?!"

"But papa sleep too!"

"Well…j-just shut up, you little runt!"

"Papa! Hungry!"

"So go to the kitchen by yourself! I'm sure Jerry will take care of you!"

"No! Papa come!"

"I don't wanna!"

"Papa!"

Although he was feeling too lazy to leave his room, as Kanda looked down at that upset little face, he could feel his resolve weakening. It was strange the effects little Lavi had on him. So, even though he wanted to do nothing more than to go back to bed and curl up in a futile attempt to sleep once more, he forced himself to get up and get some food for the two of them.

As they walked out the door, Lavi's tiny hand slipped into Kanda's. Feeling the sudden alien touch, he automatically jerked his arm upwards, thus tearing out of Lavi's grasp. It didn't take long for him to figure out what the touch was and, when he looked down, he saw the little boy was teary-eyed.

"What're you crying for?" Kanda sighed.

Lavi just shook his bowed head and wiped at his eye. Kanda heaved another sigh and, after a moment or two of thinking, he reached down and took the child's hand. _What the hell; he's just a kid,_ he thought, wondering why the kid's crying weakened his will so.

The effect the gesture had on the little boy was amazing; the teary-eyed expression vanished instantly to be replaced by a bright grin. _I bet he does it on purpose cuz he thinks he's found a weak point_, Kanda mused. Strangely enough, he didn't care to set the little boy straight. Just this once, Kanda could let it slide; Lavi was a child, after all, and he got happy whenever Kanda showed his concern and Kanda liked to see the infant with a big smile on his childish little face.

The night was a long one. After dinner, neither man nor child felt like going back to sleep so they stayed up late.

Little Lavi had recently received a plain paper pad and a set of colouring pencils from Lenalee as a present and he had been making good use of them by filling up the pages with colourful doodles. The little boy spent a majority of the night scribbling away and Kanda tried to meditate. But every time he was about to let himself slip into a state of calmness, he was interrupted by Lavi calling out to him and he'd open his eyes to see the boy holding up his paper pad with a happy look on his face, proud of the pictures he'd drawn.

"What the hell is this?" Kanda grunted, not even trying to act interested as he glanced at the picture. To Kanda, Lavi's pictures looked like some artist's nightmare but the child was pretty well developed for a baby aged three years. On the paper was a drawing of two sketchy figures, one long and the other short. One had a mess of red squiggles which could only be hair while the other sported long black lines ending at the waist.

"Papa and Lavi!" Lavi answered with a grin.

"Oh. I see." It made sense now that Kanda looked more closely. But it was still just a mess. Lavi was looking at him hopefully so he figured he was supposed to comment. "It's…um…good…?"

"Really?!"

"Er…sure."

And Lavi cheerily went on to draw some more. Kanda didn't get in any meditation so he gave up after a while and resigned himself to watching as Lavi occupied himself. His movements gradually became slower and his pencil fell out of his grasp. He didn't bother to pick it back up. Instead, he gazed up at Kanda.

"Lavi tired." he mumbled.

"So go to sleep." Kanda grumbled.

"Um…pick up…?"

The man heaved a weary sigh and lifted the child up. "You really are getting spoilt." he chastised, though there was no venom in the words.

"Sorry, papa." Lavi muttered as he let himself fall against Kanda's chest and closed his eye. As usual, he clutched the material of Kanda's shirt in a tiny fist. Kanda was beginning to think the child did that for security or something; even if he was moved or jolted a little bit, his hold tightened. It happened all the time when he fell asleep while Kanda was picking him up.

But Kanda was careful not to move. Looking down at the child, a sudden smile alighted upon the man's lips. It was a serene and unreserved gesture. He raised a hand to the child's head and brushed back a strand of red hair.

* * *

The next day passed without too much trouble. Lavi refused to talk to Allen and the others at breakfast and sat still on Kanda's lap like a well-made little doll. Lenalee and Miranda tried to coax him out of his shell but he refused to interact with them so they gave up.

Towards the end of breakfast, Krory and Allen were discussing something heatedly and Lavi got interested so he slipped off Kanda's lap and watched them intently. Kanda left by himself, unnoticed by his charge, only to return when he heard loud wailing coming from the hall.

Lavi wouldn't let go of him all day, much to Kanda's dismay. But lunch and teatime passed by without Kanda trying to slip away from the child so Lavi relaxed a little. By the time the evening meal rolled around, he was all right in talking to Lenalee and Miranda. He even exchanged a few words with Allen…and he glanced questioningly at Krory a few times. He seemed to be seeing the vampire-like man in a friendlier light than before, and he even waved goodbye to him when Kanda said it was time to go.

And when it was time to sleep, Lavi wouldn't stop talking about all his friends. "Aunty and Lenalee nice to Lavi." he said with a bright smile. He paused a while, his brows pulled into a thoughtful frown. "And bean sprout nice too…and scary man smile a lot so he nice too...although, he has scary smile..."

"What about me?" Kanda asked.

Lavi smiled again. "Papa the best!"

_He didn't say I'm nice_, Kanda thought wistfully. Well, one could hardly frown upon that! Sure, he wasn't nice, but he was nice to Lavi, right? Of course he was! He was taking care of the little runt!

But he stopped the internal debate when he questioned himself why he was bothered so much. Big deal if Lavi didn't think he was nice! What did Kanda care? How ridiculous!

His mood shifted and, without another word, he turned his back on the child and tried to get to sleep.

"P-papa?" Lavi mumbled, sounding unsure.

"Go to sleep."

* * *

Ahahaha -nervous laugh- I have accepted that this story is bordering on crack. I mean, it is totally and absolutely and _utterly_ outside the realm of possibilities for what could happen in the DGM world...well, I suppose the "turning into a kid" part is plausible (who knows what kinds of things Komui gets up to? -_-') but, Kanda getting stuck looking after baby Lavi? And, on top of that, he's changing too. Where I'm up to in writing the story atm, he has changed _far_ too much because of Lavi. I mean, I think it's cannon that Kanda and Lavi will be really close friends by the time the war ends and all and I think if anything were to happen to Lavi after that period, Kanda _would_ give a damn but I can't really guess how _much_ of a damn, ya know? And for me, who has a freakish obsession with facts, that's a big problem and if it builds into uncertainty on my part, I might get tired of the story and stop writing it :\ how suckish, right?

But, on a plus note, since Kanda's background is soon going to be revealed (?), it'll save me some guess-work for part two of this story :D I did have something planned already but if I went ahead and wrote it and then found out that it didn't match with Kanda's real past at all, then I'd go nuts and delete everything, yo :\ weirdo, huh? Fanfiction's about speculation anyway.

Oh, and, just to make the two weeks go a little faster, I hope it's all right if I introduce an OC later on. She's just a little girl who's going to serve as a playmate for little Lavi and the idea for her came from my best friend. But, I know it can be annoying having someone chuck in an OC in a story about your favourite characters so please bear with me, onegai shimasu! And it's not like she plays a very big role...but, yeah...I'm having doubts though. Every time I read a story where a random, recurring OC's thrown in, I get really peed off, which is why I'm trying to explain myself here like some kind of criminal -embarrassed- hope you all understand! And enjoy the story!


	8. Inner Conflicts

Thanks for all the uplifting reviews, guys. I really appreciate it, and I'll try to finish this story as soon as possible...well, I have gotten quite far after the incidents in this chapter but I've sorta run out of steam these days so I only get a few lines written a day :( that, and I stupidly focus my attention on another LK friendship fic I got the idea for a while back *sigh*

But, hope y'all enjoy this! ^_^

* * *

"So, today, we're all going into town!" Lenalee announced. With one of her hands on her hip, she suddenly pointed an accusing finger at Kanda with the other, "And you can't refuse, Kanda!"

Kanda scoffed. "Of course I can. I'm not going."

"That's fine, but you shouldn't make Lavi suffer boredom with you just because you're so anti-social." Allen snorted as he wolfed down five bowls of rice in rapid succession.

"Tch. Shut up, bean sprout." Kanda huffed as a vein popped in his forehead. He fed Lavi another spoonful of cereal. The child was looking up at him with undeniable hope. Was he that bored at staying inside all day? Kanda wasn't bothered by it. He sighed. "You want to go?"

"With papa!" Lavi agreed enthusiastically.

"I guess we'll be going then." Kanda looked across the table at Lenalee and the others. They were all staring at him with stunned expressions. "What?"

Allen's jaw had dropped the most. "Y-you agreed so easily! I thought you wouldn't come!"

Kanda glared at the boy. "If you didn't want me to come, why invite me?"

"We wanted Lavi to come, not yo…"

"Of course we want you to come!" Lenalee spoke over Allen, digging the heel of her shoe into his foot hard enough to make his eyes water. She smiled at Kanda. "It's just that, usually, you never agree."

Kanda snorted. "Yeah well…th-the brat tends to make a ruckus every time he doesn't get things his way and it's just…it's bothersome."

The group of former Exorcists all looked at him with stares that plainly said "yeah right". His brow quivered in annoyance. "Whatever." He went back to feeding Lavi his breakfast.

Lenalee hid a smile as she watched them. _He really is too concerned about appearing cold and indifferent_. She thought. _Why can't he just admit that he cares? For Lavi, in any case_.

Breakfast came to an end and preparations were made to go to town. Kanda had been asked to meet the rest at the front entrance by eleven. But Lavi was too busy drawing to listen to Kanda telling him to get dressed and the man's ire was rising. He hated repeating himself and he didn't really want to go hang out with the others in town and he was being made to do so because of this little brat but the brat in question wouldn't move his stinking butt!

"Lavi, c'mon," Kanda ordered through gritted teeth.

"But Lavi wanna draw!" the boy said cheerily.

"Lavi." Kanda growled. "Do you want to go or not?"

"Yeah, but Lavi drawing."

"I don't give a damn! I told those fools I'd be there for the time they set and I don't go back on my word so get a fuckin move on, you ingrate!"

Lavi looked back at Kanda's harsh tone, his happy grin slipping off to be replaced by a teary expression. It turned into a scared expression when he saw the look of fury on Kanda's face. "B-but…papa…" he stammered as he sat up properly, fidgeting with the material of his sleeves.

"Get. Moving." Kanda seethed. "You're the one who wanted to go, aren't you?! Don't hold everybody up just cuz you felt the sudden need to _draw_!"

Almost in tears, the child slipped off the bed and stumbled over to Kanda, rubbing at his eye. "S-sorry, papa…"

_I shouldn't spoil him. Don't spoil him. _Kanda thought, willing himself to ignore the heartbroken look on Lavi's face._ He's too spoilt already._ He could feel his anger draining away and he didn't want to let it go…because he didn't want to admit to himself that little Lavi could sway his heart so easily. But he also didn't want to see the child cry…but then again, Lavi _had_ been asking to be told off and Kanda couldn't help it if he was quick to anger.

He got the child dressed in a fresh outfit and helped him into his shoes. These things had really tested his nerves for the first two days; how was he supposed to know how to dress a child? It was like playing with a doll and it had embarrassed him greatly, making him feel that his manly pride had been put at risk. This was woman stuff, right? There's no way men should be doing this! But he'd gotten the hang of it; now, it was just something that had to be done and he was the only one to do it.

Kanda went to don his coat and, as he looked back at his charge, he saw that the child was still upset. He'd not said a word. Kanda sighed. He was starting to feel guilty. But it didn't matter; Lavi had to learn to live with these kinds of things. Kanda couldn't let himself fall prey to that innocent face all the time; it was about time the kid was given a taste of what it was really like spending time with Yu Kanda.

"Move it." He said as he walked over to the door. He held it open for the boy as Lavi shuffled along over the threshold and then shut it behind them. He didn't wait to see if Lavi was sticking close by him before he set off down the corridor at his usual pace. He walked pretty fast. By the time he looked back, just before rounding the corner at the end of the long corridor, Lavi was a dot at the other end of the passageway.

"Come on, Lavi!" he called out in exasperation. "Hurry up!"

But Lavi could only go as fast as his little legs could carry him. Kanda heaved a sigh and slumped against the wall. It wasn't long before the sound of sobs reached his ears. He looked back towards the child and noted that Lavi was rubbing at his eye again.

Guilt crept its way into his heart again but he pushed it away with an iron resolve; Lavi was so weak at this point, he needed some help toughening up so Kanda couldn't just give in and act like a fussy parent every time the boy started to cry. _No kid of mine is gonna be a weak cry-baby_, he thought with determination as he turned his back and continued walking.

He managed three steps before he stopped dead. _K-kid of _mine_?! Where the fuck did that come from?!_ He thought with incredulity. _He's not my kid; he's my friend! Shit!_ He was getting too attached. Why did he keep forgetting that this was only temporary? Little Lavi would be gone in little more than a week. He couldn't afford to get attached…because he already had one too many attachments in this place.

As the years had worn on, he'd begun to lose his icy demeanour around some individuals…he'd come to think of them as his friends. He heaved another sigh. _Tch!_ _What a place to suddenly remember myself_, he thought dryly. This was not the time for introspection. He continued on his way.

But, before long, he began to worry about Lavi so he decided to wait again. He was waiting for a good long while before the kid came into view. He was stumbling along, out of breath, and rivers of tears were running down his cheek, mixing with the mucus from his nose and creating a horrible mess when he wiped his sleeve across his face.

He spotted Kanda and slowed down. The hiccupping sobs which escaped his throat had finally died down by the time he reached Kanda. He didn't look up at the man, instead, he wiped his sleeve across his face again. "Pa…pa…"

"That's disgusting." Kanda said. He pulled out a tissue and tossed it at the boy. "Clean yourself up." And he turned once more and walked off, this time suppressing his stride a little so that the boy could catch up.

"Papa…? Does papa…hate Lavi now…?" the boy mumbled after a while, trying his best not to cry.

Kanda spared him a brief glance, relieved that the horrible mess was gone from his face. "I don't hate you."

"B-but…"

"Just walk, will you? We don't have time for your queries."

"B-but, papa…"

Feeling suddenly aggravated, Kanda rounded on the child and snapped, "I said walk! How many times must I say something before you understand?! Just. _Move_! Save your fuckin comments for later, when there's somebody around to listen who actually gives a damn about what it is you have to say! Tch!" And then he stomped off, not caring whether the baby was following or not.

He soon arrived at the main entrance. Lenalee and the others were waiting.

"Hey, where's Lavi?" Allen asked.

"He's coming." Kanda replied coldly as he fell against the wall beside the door and folded his arms across his chest.

Allen and the others, sensing Kanda's less than happy mood, decided to back off and talked among themselves as they waited for Lavi to show up. But five minutes passed. Allen was getting worried. "Hey, you didn't say anything to him, did you?" he asked Kanda.

"None of your business." Kanda huffed.

Miranda looked like she wanted to say something but she was too scared of Kanda to do so. Krory looked around the group, looking worried too. But Lenalee was the one who stepped up beside the long-haired man. "Kanda?" she said softly, "What did you say to him?"

"Tch…I just told him to get a move on, that's all, all right?!" Kanda snapped. His bad mood was beginning to sky rocket.

"Yeah, and since you're always so subtle in what you say, Lavi's probably sitting in some corner crying his eyes out." Allen said acidly.

"Shut the fuck up, you bastard."

"Hey, that was uncalled for, stupid Kanda!"

"Just _shut up_!" Kanda yelled, feeling angrier than he had in a long time. He couldn't stay here, among these people. They were testing his nerves and, sooner or later, he would snap. He scoffed and stomped out the open door and into the late morning air. Behind him, he heard Allen saying "I'm going to look for Lavi", while Lenalee called after Kanda. "Hey, where are you going?! Lavi's going to cry if you just run off like this!"

"Like I give a fuck." he grumbled. "I'm going on ahead."

"Hey, Kanda…!"

Whatever she said next was lost to the winds as he continued on out of hearing range.

Back in the building, Allen soon came across little Lavi. As expected, the boy was huddled against the wall, clutching his knees to his chest and sobbing. "Lavi!" Allen called out as he ran up to the boy. "Hey, are you okay?"

The child looked up briefly but then dropped his head back onto his arms. "Wh-where…where's…papa?" he mumbled through sobs.

It took a huge effort of will for Allen not to erupt with curses as Kanda was mentioned. That guy was an idiot! How could he just leave a child on his own like this?! And he'd shouted at Lavi too! That bastard was so thoughtless sometimes! But Allen had to make sure Lavi calmed down and saying bad things about Kanda wouldn't help. He took in a deep breath and smiled warmly. "Kanda went on ahead. Hey, why don't we catch up to him, huh? It'll be like a race! You an me against Kanda, okay?"

Lavi certainly looked interested. The sobs began to die away and he rubbed at his eye to clear away the tears and then looked up at Allen with a hopeful expression. "O-okay…b-but Lavi be on papa's team."

"All right, but first we have to catch up to him. So, c'mon! Let's go!" Allen held his arms out and Lavi jumped up willingly. _Aw, he's so cute!_ Allen thought. He then began to brood. _I wonder what my kids are gonna be like…_

But he was soon snapped out of his daze as Lavi tapped his shoulder. "Hey, bean sprout, go faster! We catch papa!"

"I-it's Allen! Don't imitate Kanda! It's not nice to give people nicknames that they don't like!" But the Brit quickened his pace anyway.

"Really? But papa say "bean sprout" and papa nice."

"He's only nice to you."

"Why?"

"Because you're the only one he considers his friend."

"Is that…true?" Lavi mumbled, looking thoughtful. "Papa don't…have other…friends?"

Not wanting to upset the boy, Allen smiled reassuringly. "There are many people who would consider him a friend but he doesn't feel the same way about them."

"That's not true!" Lavi protested. "Papa really like it here! Papa like…the people…"

It was hard for Allen not to scoff at that. "Why would you say that?"

Lavi looked down and shrugged. "Just…a feeling."

_Strange kid_…Allen mused. _He knows a lot more than he lets on...or perhaps he's unable to put his thoughts into words? But he's only three! His development is astonishing!_

"We get to papa soon?" Lavi asked.

"Of course!"

"Hurry!"

"All right!"

Back outside, Kanda had slowed down, but continuing on nonetheless. He'd managed to clear his mind, what with being out in the fresh air like this. His anger had toned down and he wanted to go back. What was Lavi doing now? Was he crying, as he always did when Kanda wasn't around? Had the bean sprout found him?

He was annoyed with himself; _what're you acting like a freakin parent for?!_ He chided himself. _He needs to learn to take care of himself!_

But…this was only temporary. It wasn't as if little Lavi would remain forever. In just a week and some, he would go back to being the usual cheery loudmouth who got on Kanda's nerves. So couldn't Kanda just let up and spoil the kid a little?

_No!_ He rejected the idea with vehemence the moment he came up with it. Because…the real issue here was that Kanda didn't want to get any more attached.

Attachments were such stupid things; how long did a human live that he could calmly go around making any kinds of close relations with people? Life was a very frail thing and one could easily die and the more attachments one had to friends or family, the more one was likely to have regrets at the time of death. And, of course, the people that one was close to would be hurt too.

Kanda didn't want that. He'd spent his entire life avoiding such things…but since that idiot redhead had arrived at the Black Order, he'd slowly started to alter Kanda's perceptions and beliefs. Kanda had no idea how it happened…how he'd let someone get past his carefully constructed defences…but at least Lavi was the only one.

And, Kanda would never tell anyone but, once he had that one person to whom he could confide, so many things had become easier…it had been like a weight had been lifted off his shoulder and he was thankful to Lavi for that.

He stopped walking as these past recollections overtook him and he reached out to lean against the wall he'd been walking alongside. He clapped a hand over his face, feeling weak and almost overwhelmed. _I wish you were here_, he thought. _Tell me what I should do, Lavi. Tell me, what are all the stupid feelings in my heart when I look at that child?_

He didn't want to make sense of it. He didn't want to…have regrets.

"Hey! Kanda!"

The distant cry jerked him out of his grim musings and he abruptly stood up straight and looked to the source of the voices. Lenalee, Miranda, and Krory were all walking towards him at a leisurely pace. And well ahead of them, in Allen's arms, waving enthusiastically and yelling at the top of his lungs was…

Kanda turned away, hating the sudden relief that flooded his entire being. Really, what had he expected would happen to the kid that he was feeling so relieved? It wasn't as if there was anybody in the Black Order HQ who would wish harm on him. Kanda gritted his teeth and contemplated going on ahead and ignoring the group…but he didn't.

"Papa! Hey, papa!"

Allen was running ahead of the others, fuelled by the urgency in little Lavi's voice. But before he got anywhere near Kanda, the infant started to squirm around in his arms so Allen let him down. Lavi began to run to Kanda as fast as his legs could carry him. "Papa! Papa!"

Kanda didn't move. He was torn between wanting to escape from all this and taking the child in his arms once more. As a result, he did nothing when the toddler finally crossed the distance and fell against Kanda's leg, wrapping his arms around the limb tightly. "Papa!"

When Kanda neither said nor did anything, Lavi looked up in puzzlement. For a brief second, he got scared as he saw papa's tightly curled fists shaking at his sides. But when he looked up at papa's face, the uncertainty and the fear vanished. The way Kanda was looking down at him wasn't like any expression Lavi had ever seen on the man's face. The mouth was set in a straight line, but those dark eyes were soft…conflicted with an inner struggle…his expression kept shifting between solemnity and a need. But a need for what, Lavi didn't know.

"Papa…?" he mumbled.

The expression immediately cleared as Lavi spoke and Kanda pulled on his poker face. "Walk on your own." he said.

"Y-yes, papa." Lavi let go of the man's leg and began walking. Kanda kept his stride shorter than his usual and measured his pace so Lavi wouldn't get left behind. Lavi felt somewhat gladdened that papa was being so considerate.

"Papa?" he asked a few seconds later, looking thoughtfully down at the ground.

"Hmm…?"

"Papa…mad at Lavi?" he looked up at the man, his green eye sombre.

Kanda gazed back and, for just a second, his blank expression melted to reveal the softness in his eyes from just a while ago. "I'm not mad…at _you_."

Lavi frowned at the emphasis on the last word. "Then…who…?" But that was when the others caught up so Kanda didn't say a word.

"Hey, you shouldn't just run off like that!" Lenalee admonished.

"Yeah, you had us worried there!" Krory sighed. Miranda was, as always, too scared of the reaction she'd get from the perpetually cold Kanda to say anything so she just nodded in agreement with Krory.

Allen, of course, had a lot to say. "You're such an idiot! He was crying when I found him! Why'd you leave like that?! And Lavi only agreed to come with me because I said I'd take him to you! Even after you shouted at him or whatever, he still wanted to go to you! What's wrong with you?!"

"Save your righteous lectures for someone who cares." Kanda huffed as he continued walking.

"You ingrate! I really don't get you, you know! Doesn't this kid mean anything to you?!"

Kanda's reply was a little too quick and a little too rushed. "Why would he?"

"He's your friend, isn't he?"

"More so yours than mine, right?"

"Hah, as if!" the white-haired boy said crossly as he folded his arms across his chest.

Kanda gave the boy a narrow-eyed sidelong glance. "What, are you jealous or something? How petty."

"Who'd be jealous of you, asshole!"

"Allen!" Lenalee interrupted.

Allen sighed. "Sorry, Lenalee."

She looked disappointed. "Both of you give it a rest. This outing was supposed to be fun so try to control yourselves, okay?" She looked at Allen with a pleading look.

Allen looked away, uneasy at being subjected to such a gaze. "O-of course…Lenalee."

Kanda merely scoffed. "Tch…so troublesome."

* * *

Haha, I have no idea what the fuck that was when Kanda was thinking "kid of mine" *facepalm* so laaaaaaaaaaame and OOC! lol, I apologise...it's been a while since I wrote that and it seems so weird and awkward looking back on it :\ but, I hope you enjoyed it anyway! And next chapter's gonna be surprising :D


	9. Mishap

I apologise for this chapter being uber-short, but I didn't want to put it in with the next one cuz...I like the ending on this one XD and I updated early _because_ it's mega-short...however, the next update will still be five days from the last one so...this Thursday. Aren't I generous? Lol.

I appreciate all the kind reviews and all. To Ann On E. Mouse, thanks for the offer but the events for the two weeks are sorted now so I don't need any more ideas. (Does Kanda even have a sweet side? -is shot-) Lol and I don't take any offense in that. None of my stories will _ever_ feature yaoi. I mean, I used to be a fan of yaoi and, maybe because of that, the characters I write about who are supposed to be best friends sometimes seem a little more than that. If it ever seems like that to anyone, then please lemme know right away!!!

...Cuz I'm picky about the little things...

ANYWAY! If anyone's got any ideas for LK one-shots but can't be bothered to write em, then lemme know cuz I'm writing a series of em but I just can't come up with anything :(

* * *

Kanda was getting tired. And the more tired he got, the angrier he became. But he did his best to hide his irritation because he'd been mean enough to Lavi today so he had to be a little more agreeable.

First, Lenalee and Miranda had wanted to investigate a newly opened ladies' clothing store. Allen and Krory escaped after saying that they were just going to take a short walk and would be coming back in a while. Kanda probably would have gone with them had Allen not invited him to come (of course, Kanda _had_ to refuse whatever proposals that idiot bean sprout came up with). But Lavi was having a great time helping the women pick out new outfits so Kanda was stuck anyway.

They left the shop laden with shopping bags (well, Allen was the only one who had been forced to carry it all).

"H-hey, how about we all get something to eat? I'm hungry." Allen said from somewhere beneath his heavy load.

"Yeah, I'm hungry too!" Krory agreed.

"I suppose that's all right. But we've only been to one shop so far." Lenalee said thoughtfully.

"We can shop more later." Miranda promised.

"Sure! And what about Lavi?" the younger of the two women looked down at the little boy walking beside Kanda and smiled. "Are you hungry?"

Lavi grinned. "Yup! Lavi eat lots!"

Lenalee laughed. "That's great. So, it's decided then; we'll go eat and then shop till we drop! How about the café on the next street?"

Kanda, with his arms folded across his chest and his scowl in place, huffed. He couldn't wait to go back home. Spending any amount of time within a group was just annoying. And plus, the little kid wouldn't let go of the hem of his coat and he found it irritating.

And Lavi had gotten into the habit of tugging on Kanda's coat whenever he saw something interesting. "Papa! Look!"

Trying not to show his irritation as he felt the tug on his coat, Kanda looked down at the boy to see where he was pointing at. On the other side of the fairly quiet street, a man had set up a stall between two shops and on this stall were brightly coloured toys of all kinds.

Kanda wanted to groan but he sighed heavily instead. "What?"

Lavi looked up at him with a bright-eyed gaze. "Lavi look?"

"You don't need to have a look." the man said, not bothering to hide his annoyance this time. "I thought you were hungry?"

Lavi's lip trembled and his eyes became glassy. "B-but…papa…"

Kanda could feel his will wavering as Lavi started to cry. He didn't want the child to cry again…or indeed be the cause of the boy's discomfort, so he sighed and gave in. "All right. Fine."

"Yay!"

From some ways ahead, Miranda gazed back as Kanda turned to cross the street. "Um…a-are you two going somewhere?" she stammered, as she always did when addressing Kanda directly.

Kanda gazed back at her. "The kid wants to have a look at the stall over there."

Lenalee had turned to see what was going on too. "Oh? Shall we come too?" she asked.

"No, that's all right. We'll join you guys shortly." Kanda said. "Let's go, Lavi."

"Okay, papa!" Lavi took a hold of Kanda's coat again and they proceeded to cross the street.

They spent quite a while at the stall because Lavi couldn't make his mind up about what to get. Kanda was getting aggravated. "Hurry it up!" he snapped.

"O-ok!" never comfortable with being yelled at like so, Lavi picked up the closest thing at hand and gave it to Kanda. It was a bright orange ball.

Kanda suppressed a groan. "You sure you want this?" Lavi nodded, staring down at the floor. Kanda sighed. "All right." He paid the owner of the stall and then handed the toy back to Lavi. "Let's get going then."

"Ok." Lavi's glumness soon cleared as he began to play with his purchase. He threw it down and giggled as it bounced back up and nearly hit him in the face.

Kanda looked across the street where they'd left the others. But Lenalee and company were nowhere in sight. They must be in the café already. He wondered if he should just go home instead…but then Lenalee would give him an earful for making everybody worry or whatnot. He sighed in defeat.

He heard the clop-clop of horses' hooves hitting the hard ground. A carriage must have rounded the corner. He decided to wait for it to pass before he crossed over so he kept walking along the pavement. He glanced back to see how close it was…and, for a second, it felt like his heart stopped beating…because, in the middle of the road, chasing after a bright rolling ball was an oblivious Lavi.

"LAVI!" Kanda cried as he dashed forward. From what felt like another reality, he saw the terror-stricken face of the carriage driver as he desperately tried to stop the vehicle. But Kanda's attention was focused on Lavi and Lavi alone.

Lavi glanced up at Kanda's yell, his green eye wide, and he spotted the danger he was in. Kanda lunged at the child and skid across the road with his charge securely in his arms just as the furious hooves of the horses crashed against the ground where Lavi had been. But the wheels of the carriage didn't miss Kanda's right leg. The dark-haired man hissed in pain, from both the frictional burns on his arm as he skidded across the surface of the road and what felt like a bone breaking in his lower shin.

He lay there a long while. Lavi called out to him but he couldn't respond past the pain in his leg. But, again from that same another-reality kind of vision, he saw the carriage pull up on the side of the road and the driver, a splendidly dressed old man with a monocle and a black top hat, came rushing towards them. There were many other people staring now.

Grunting with the effort of keeping his weight off his broken leg, Kanda sat up. He freed Lavi, still not casting the child a glance. With an iron will, the man then forced himself to his feet, almost falling over in the process. His vision swam; he must have hit his head pretty hard and the pain…the pain shooting up from his leg was searing. He nearly staggered as jolts of agony shot up his injured leg but he ignored them and, trying not to wince as he glared at the approaching driver, he spoke through gritted teeth, not letting the other man get in a word. "Did you not see the kid? Didn't you think to slow down?"

"I'm…I'm awfully sorry!" the old man sputtered. "A-are you all right?! Could…could I perhaps take you to the hospital?! Is the child all right?!" he eyes held an expression of worry and his gaze kept shifting between the injury on Kanda's leg, Kanda's angry face, and the little child who looked confused.

"We don't need to…be…taken…to…" Kanda's vision wasn't getting any better. He tried to force out the words he wanted to say, to maintain his angry tone, but his tongue felt heavy and his vision was slipping and darkness was closing in. He gritted his teeth tightly as he began to fall back.

Why was he trying to blame someone else? It was clear who was at fault here; no one but himself. He'd not been watching over Lavi as he should have been. If he had, this would never have happened. _Damn it_…he thought.

But he decided he was happy as he heard Lavi's shout, as if the child were calling from a huge distance. "Papa…!"

At least Lavi was safe.

* * *

After this chapter, it starts to get crackish. I've accepted that there's no way this story would actually take place in the real storyline...but, that's what fanfiction's all about, right? Fans writing about stuff that's never gonna happen XD well, that's usually how it is, more often than not, with fanfiction.

Anyway, as I said, I'm looking for ideas for LK friendship one-shots so please help me out!

Also, I told someone that this would be epic in a lot of ways...I'm sorry; it really isn't :(

Thanks for reading!


	10. In the Infirmary

Firstly, I do apologise for any errors you might/have already come across in this fic. I have a really bad habit of not editing my work :( sorry.

Anyway, thanks for all the wonderful reviews and thank you for taking your time out to read this story of mine ^_^ and thanks to the people who gave me some suggestions for my one-shots.

* * *

Kanda's eyes opened a crack and then shut as soon as he saw the blinding white light. He tried to open them again and realised the light was coming from the huge window he could see. It was probably late afternoon.

He was lying in a bed with crisp white sheets. These surroundings were familiar and, sure enough, he saw the rest of the Black Order's medical wing as he gazed around the spacious chamber he was in.

In a chair beside his bed was a familiar little redhead. Kanda felt a smile tugging at his lips as he gazed at the child snoozing with his arms resting at the edge of the bed. He was all right. Kanda sighed heavily with relief and sat up.

His upper left arm was bandaged but he could still see the tattoo protruding out the bottom, past his elbow. He scoffed. It would grow even more now. A broken leg was a lot to heal and his curse/blessing wasn't as strong as it had been before so he'd be stuck in this stupid place for a good few days. Just great.

But the important thing, he told himself again, was that his charge was safe. He reached out a hand and ruffled the boy's hair. But he retracted his hand when the child mumbled something and began to stir. A tiny fist rubbed the sleep from the single eye as Lavi sat up. He was instantly wide awake as he saw that Kanda was up. "Pa-papa!"

"Hey, kid," Kanda said softly.

As Lavi continued to stare, his green eye became glassy, until a tear dropped and rolled down his cheek. He fell forward onto the bed and burrowed his head in the covers. Kanda frowned and reached out to lift the child up and sat him down in his lap. "What's the matter?" he asked.

Lavi snuggled as close as he could. "Papa get hurt…because of Lavi…" he mumbled miserably.

Kanda's lip twitched upwards at the corners and he patted the child's head. "Don't worry about this. It's all right."

"B-but…it hurt?" Lavi looked up sombrely.

Kanda smoothed back strands of red hair and shook his head. "Doesn't hurt at all." That wasn't entirely a lie; he couldn't feel his right ankle and foot.

The green eye suddenly became brighter. "R-really?"

"Yeah, and I'll get better in no time."

"Lavi…glad…" the little boy murmured as a smile curved his lips.

Kanda felt…comforted by this little presence, knowing that he'd saved the boy from certain harm. How terrible it would have been if Kanda hadn't saved him! Kanda wouldn't have been able to live with such a guilty conscience! He tightened his arms around his charge, feeling the full effect of his relief. _Thank goodness he's all right_, he thought. He felt so content to sit with the child like this. Until…

"Papa?"

"Hmm?"

"Lavi need wee-wee."

Kanda tried hard not to smack a palm against his forehead. _Yeah, better in no time, huh?_ He thought dismally. Well, lies had a tendency to come back and haunt you. "Um…why don't you ask that nurse over there?" he asked, hoping that, for once, the little boy would allow someone else near, as he pointed at the farther end of the chamber towards the nurses' station.

"B-but, papa!" Lavi protested, looking up at Kanda with a teary-eyed gaze. "Lavi really need wee-wee!"

"I can't get up!"

"But papa said it all right!"

"But it's not all right!" the man sighed. "Look, Lavi, for just two days, can you let someone else take care of you? Please?" He didn't know why he was looking at the child pleadingly, silently willing him to understand. The boy was only a child, after all, and the effect of the chemical which had made him this way would prevent him from trusting wholeheartedly in someone else.

But, much to Kanda's surprise, Lavi looked away after a while and, shifting off of Kanda's lap, he slid down the bed. "Ok, Lavi look for Lenalee." He didn't look back up at Kanda though.

Kanda sighed as he watched the boy walk out of the chamber, totally ignored by the nurse sitting behind the station engrossed in her work. The dark-haired man flopped back onto the bed as the infant disappeared from his view. Being a parent was so taxing.

He had been lying there staring up at the ceiling for twenty minutes, hoping that by some miracle he'd get some sleep, when he began to worry. Lavi hadn't returned yet. Where was he? He hadn't gotten himself lost, had he? What was Kanda going to do?!

He sat up and lifted the blanket off and made to swing his legs out of bed. It worked for the most part but his right leg felt stiff due to his foot. How was he going to stand?! The foot was totally numb!

But he had to manage. If he limped all the way to the nurses' station, he could ask the nurse to give him a crutch. But the nurse looked up a second later and when she saw that he was trying to get up, she immediately rushed over.

"What are you doing?!" she exclaimed.

"What does it look like?" he snorted. "I'm leaving this place."

"You can't do that! The head nurse specified that you weren't to leave for a week!"

_A week?!_ Kanda thought, outraged. He wasn't going to stay in this stinking place for a week! As if! He glared at the nurse. "That won't happen. I heal quick."

Although a little intimidated by the glare, the nurse stood her ground. "W-well, you haven't healed yet! And until we get you sorted, you're not to leave!"

Getting more and more aggravated, Kanda's glare intensified. "You can't force me to stay here." He stood up, willing himself not to waver as some of his weight went to his injured leg. His teetered for a second but he was quick to right himself and breathed a sigh of relief.

"B-But…the head nurse can! She'll be here any moment!" the nurse said desperately. "Mr. Kanda, please lie down!"

"No, I won't." Kanda started to limp away. It was hard walking on just one foot. Quite a few times, he felt like he was going to fall over so he held onto whatever was at his side. He was getting agitated, because he didn't like being rendered so useless like this. Goddamn it! He was Yu Kanda and Yu Kanda did not have these petty problems! But his curse wasn't as strong as it had once been…or, rather, it didn't have enough of his lifespan to use up to make him better…

As he got more irritated, the tighter his scowl became. And, unfortunately for the pleading nurse, she was the only one in the vicinity for him to unleash his anger on.

"Mr. Kanda, please…"  
"Shut the fuck up!" he growled. He didn't really like to yell at females but his anger had boiled over. It was taking him ridiculously long to get to that fucking door! Why did it feel like everything existed merely for the sake of testing his patience?! He turned his head to glare at the nurse. Her self-preservation instincts kicked in as she took an automatic step back. "If you can stand there lecturing me, I'm sure you could be of some help and get me a pair of crutches or something!" he snapped.

"Y-yes sir…" she said hastily as she turned and fled, looking like she was going to cry at any moment.

He waited impatiently as she went to dig out a pair of crutches. He had to find Lavi quickly. God only knew where that runt had gone! And if he could get out of this shithole, then he was going to take that opportunity!

"H-here you go, sir…" the nurse said nervously as she returned and handed over a pair of props.

"Thanks," he grunted as he took them from her and limbed out of the room, now at a much faster pace. Right, now to locate Lavi and see what the hell was taking him so long.

It only occurred to him that Lenalee and the others would be with the child when he rounded the corridor which would lead him to the cafeteria and saw the group of former Exorcists emerging. It must have been teatime now. And, in Allen's arms was the child, looking a little dismal but at least not crying. Kanda breathed a sigh of relief. The boy was in safe hands.

"Kanda! You're out already!" Lenalee exclaimed as she spotted him limping over. "Are you okay?"

"Papa!" Lavi cried, instantly looking happier. He wiggled out of Allen's grasp and slid down to the floor and ran to Kanda.

"I'm fine." Kanda said absently as he looked down at the little boy clutching onto his leg. "What took you so long? I thought you got lost!"

"But…papa said Lavi get looked after by someone else." Lavi mumbled.

"Yeah, I did say that but I didn't mean you had to completely disappear from my sight! Don't worry me like that!" Kanda took in a deep breath and let it whoosh out.

Lavi suddenly smiled and looked down at the floor. "Sorry, papa."

Kanda sighed again and lowered a hand to ruffle the boy's hair. "It's all right."

But as he took his eyes off the little boy, he realised he had an audience. Miranda, Krory, Lenalee, and Allen were all looking at him strangely. "Wh-what?" he sputtered, trying to summon up indignation at being stared at so shamelessly but being unable to do so. He felt so relieved.

"N-nothing!" Lenalee said quickly as she smiled. "So, how come they let you out so early? I mean…you don't heal as quickly as you used to so I thought the head nurse would keep you in there for a good few days."

He scoffed. "She wasn't there."

Understanding dawned on the girl's face. "Oh, I see. You escaped."

"Like the criminal that you are." Allen added. "We should go alert the head nurse right aw…! OW! I'm sorry! I'm really sorry!" Lenalee removed the heel of her boot from his foot, rolling her eyes as she did so.

Kanda cocked an eyebrow. It was rare for Lenalee to abuse the bean sprout out in the open. But it did serve that idiot right for taking the piss. Kanda harrumphed and turned away. "Well, we'll be going now; it'll be a mission and a half trying to get away from that old woman. C'mon, Lavi."

"Papa and Lavi on a mission?" Lavi said excitedly as he toddled after Kanda.

"Yeah, the objective is to hide from the scary head nurse." Kanda snorted. "So be quick about it and hide when I tell you. I don't want you giving me away, you hear me?"

"Yes sir!"

"Good."

Lenalee and the others watched on as the duo walked away.

"He really doesn't seem like the Kanda I first met when I joined the Black Order." Miranda mused.

"Indeed. But, like the rest of us, he's been through a lot." Krory added.

"And, even though he'd choose to ignore it, Lavi was there to help him along the way." Lenalee smiled.

"Tch, what is wrong with you people? Is this a congregation celebrating their friendship or something? You can all do that in about fifty years' time when we're all old and wrinkly and about to hit the grave." Allen scoffed, though he couldn't fight off the smile pulling at his lips. There was just certain…_serenity_ in watching the man walk away so calmly with his child…oops, his _best friend_.

* * *

"Yu Kanda, come out of there this minute!"

"Oh, shit!" Kanda swore as the banging on his door continued. He looked over at Lavi. The child had just gone to sleep a while ago but he was starting to stir with all the noise. Kanda was sure the kid was worn out; he'd not been his usual energetic self ever since they'd come back to Kanda's room, instead he'd chosen to motionlessly sit in Kanda's lap, where he'd drifted off before long.

The man heaved a sigh and, reaching for his crutches, he pulled himself up and hobbled towards the door. "Will you please keep it down?" Kanda said with irritation as he faced the livid old woman in a white habit standing before his door. "There's a kid trying to sleep in there."

The head nurse appeared not to have heard his words as she fixed him with a stern look, though she did tone her voice down. "What do you think you're doing out of the infirmary when you're injured, young man?"

Kanda sighed. "I'm not going back to that place."

"We shall see about that." And, like she'd always done when her patients disobeyed her orders, she took him by the ear and began dragging him away.

"H-hey! I have a kid to look after! You can't do this to me!" he protested, hissing as his numb foot took his weight and he was slid painfully along the floor.

"One of your other friends will take him in." the head nurse said.

"You don't understand! He'll cry if I'm not there! And then he'll probably end up searching all over the place and he'll get lost and nobody would know where to look!"

The old woman heaved a sigh and stopped, letting go of his ear as she did so. "All right. If you go back to the infirmary, I will bring the child to you, all right?"

He stood up, glare in place as he tried hard not to fall again. Stupid old woman, barging in and treating him in such a disrespectful manner! Nevertheless, he didn't speak his thoughts out loud; who knew what she could do?! "Fine. Just…be careful…" he felt his breath whooshing out of him as he imagined what it'd be like if Lavi woke up to find himself in the arms of someone other than Kanda. If it were Lenalee, it'd be okay. In fact, Lenalee should stay in the hospital wing too, just in case Lavi proved too much of a handful for Kanda in this state.

He was snapped out of his musings as the head nurse spoke again, already walking past him. "All right. Anything else?"

"Ask Lenalee to come down too."

"I shall do so. Now, straight to the infirmary with you, young man."

"Yes, ma'am." he mumbled grudgingly as he started to limp away. When he looked back, the woman was turning into his room. He wondered if he should bolt…but it would be futile since she'd be able to find him and, anyway, if she was going to bring Lavi along to the medical wing, Kanda had to be there so the child would be at ease.

He sighed in defeat and lumbered on. Stupid people and their stupid tendencies to get on his nerves…

Back in the medical wing, he spotted the same nurse from earlier sitting at her desk. When she saw him walk in, she immediately bowed her head and resumed her work. Kanda scoffed and went to the bed at the end and sat himself down.

Two minutes passed and the head nurse returned too, with Lenalee hot on her heels carrying baby Lavi. Lavi looked like he'd been crying but he stopped when he saw Kanda. Lenalee set him down on his feet and he ran to Kanda's bed. "Papa! Why papa back here?"

"I had no choice." Kanda grumbled as he picked the boy up to set him down on the bed.

"Papa? Mission failed?" Lavi asked, looking up earnestly.

Kanda frowned, wondering what he was on about before the words of earlier sank in. "Oh. Yeah, it failed."

"Oh." the child looked sad.

Kanda smiled and ruffled the boy's hair. "But don't worry. It's no big." He then looked over at Lenalee. "I…um…I was wondering if you might do me a favour…" the words sounded strange on his lips. He didn't often ask for help and it was absurd to do so over such a small thing.

"What is it?" Lenalee asked with a smile.

He kept his gaze trained on Lavi, trying not to let his embarrassment show. "Can you…drop by a few times a day…while I'm stuck here? J-just to…ya know…take care of Lavi and all."

Lenalee smiled grew. "Sure! I'd love to!" She looked at Lavi. "If Lavi's okay with that."

"Lavi?" Kanda urged.

"It okay." Lavi mumbled before crawling into Kanda's lap and burrowing his face in Kanda's shirt.

"Good." Kanda breathed a sigh of relief. This kid was so unpredictable sometimes. And it would be such a chore taking care of him like this. Stupid slowed healing process!

"All right. So, do you need anything now?" Lenalee asked.

"No. He went to the bathroom before, right?"

"Yeah."

"Did he have anything to eat?"

"Yup. He had three glasses of milk at teatime, with a _whole_ plate of biscuits…and he said he didn't feel like eating!"

Kanda looked down at the little boy. "You little glutton. Three glasses of milk and a whole plate of biscuits, huh?"

"Lavi was hungry." Lavi replied defensively.

"Whatever. You were always a glutton."

"Lavi not a glutton!"

"Sure you're not."

"Lavi not!"

"If you say so, kid."

"Papa!"

"What? Don't yell at me, boy."

Lavi burrowed his face into Kanda's shirt again. "Sorry, papa."

Kanda smiled another odd half-smile as he patted the boy's head softly. "That's all right. You wanna get some sleep now? You're still tired, aren't you?" Lavi nodded.

A while later, Lenalee departed and Kanda laid Lavi down on the bed. He removed the child's shoes and then pulled the blanket up to Lavi's chin. Lavi stirred a little and rolled over onto his side. "Pa…pa…" he murmured.

_He's so attached_, Kanda thought as his expression softened and a smile stretched across his lips. _Idiot_.

Lavi shifted to lie on his back again and his features distorted, as if he was going to start crying. "Pa…pa…" he became restless, tossing and turning. "Papa…! Papa…hurt. Lavi…Lavi fault…"

Kanda sighed. Another nightmare, except it was a little different. Usually, the child only mumbled things like "don't leave" or "Lavi sad". The accident must have had a bigger impact than Kanda had first thought. He looked sombrely down at the child and stroked back strands of red hair away from the little face.

The restlessness continued so, sighing again, he laid himself down beside the boy. He put a hand on the red head, holding the child close, and whispered soothing words into Lavi's ear. "It's okay, Lavi. I'm all right…so get to sleep. It's not your fault…I'm right here." He didn't know whether the boy could hear him or not but it seemed to work; Lavi's restlessness gradually died down and he went back to sleeping soundly, though he clutched a bunch of Kanda's hair tightly in one little fist.

"Pa…pa…"

Kanda exhaled wearily and slumped back onto the pillow, careful not to get too far from the baby when his hair got tugged. It was so draining trying to be so openly kind. But he had to be like that otherwise he'd feel guilty. Besides, he'd not thought for one second that Lavi had been at fault for Kanda's current situation so he didn't want Lavi to suffer over that. Lavi was just a kid; he should be happy, with that vibrant smile on his face.

He turned over to look at the face of the child, mere centimetres away from his, and raised a cautious hand up to run the back of one finger along Lavi's cheek. "…Biscuit…" Lavi mumbled, shifting his head a little so he leaned more into the soft touch. A bit of drool ran out the corner of his mouth. A chuckle rose in Kanda's throat. _What, does he think my hand's a biscuit?_ _Idiot._ He thought. But he didn't laugh. He'd probably wake the boy up and he didn't want to do that.

_He's…he's really cute_, he thought with an amused smile.

* * *

And this chapter marks the gradual change in Kanda, I suppose...? Damn, I don't know how the hell I'm going to reach the end objective of this story without making Kanda seem very, very OOC _


	11. Reading to the Ill

Early update cuz it's Lavi's birthday :D

Anyway, I'm stuck. I've almost finished writing this story and I did say there was going to be a Part II but I don't see the point in it. But that's not what I'm stuck on. What I'm stuck on is how to end it...I've got a good idea but there's just a little bit about Kanda's curse and it's pissing me off cuz the theory I came up with obviously isn't gonna happen and if the coming chapter of DGM in Akamaru Jump _is_ gonna be about Kanda and we _do_ get the backstory, then I'm gonna beat myself up for being so far off _

But, I got quite a few chapters to go before that bit comes up so, maybe I'll be able to change it accordingly after the DGM chapter is released...aaaah, but then I gotta worry about when I'ma get to read it. How long does it take someone to translate fifty pages? :( maybe I should just say "that person" died before Kanda could get to em so the curse is still in effect. Easy solution, no? XD lol

Actually, I do have a theory other than that but it seems too complicated for my humble little story so I can't be asked with it :(

Well, anyway, enjoy!

Oh, and to Yuu13, there's gonna be a lot more instances like that now :D Kanda gets really "sweet" (if you can ever call Kanda "sweet" without talkin about someone who just happens to look like him, if ya get me :|) and fatherly after this, cuz he's stopped trying to be Mr Nasty to the little boy. And I really thank the rest of you guys for the support! You're so understanding!! It melts my heart...!

* * *

Lavi looked up at the shelves of books before him. Everything was so huge! Lavi couldn't reach those places! He should have brought Lenalee or Aunty Miranda along! Oh, but he couldn't fetch them now! Papa would wake up soon and Lavi had to be there!

Lavi was on a mission…a mission to find a good book for papa. All evening yesterday, papa had been bored while Lavi drew and played with Lenalee and Allen and Miranda and even Krory so this time Lavi was going to make sure papa wouldn't get bored.

Oh, but it was so difficult to get to the good books! And, to make matters more complicated, Lavi didn't know what papa liked to read. Did papa even read at all? Lavi hadn't seen a single book in papa's room. He plopped down on the ground, pouting because he didn't know what to do.

After a while of looking at the lowest bookshelf in front of him, he decided he might as well just pick one; if papa didn't like it, Lavi would return for a better one later. He stood up and walked along the length of the bookshelf, staring intently for any eye-catching titles or covers.

His gaze fell on a black cover imbued with random red streaks so he pulled it out. It was quite big and heavy so he had a hard time getting it out, but he managed it. Taking in a deep breath to wipe away the weariness brought about by his task, he looked down at the title.

"D-demons," he read out loud, "and…my? Mi…? Oh, like, myth…mytho…mytho…logy…? Mythology?" he frowned, wondering if he'd gotten it right. Ah, what did it matter? It looked pretty interesting. And there were scary illustrations inside too. Papa would like this, right? It was about demons! Lavi found this kind of amusing.

Maybe the word "demons" had caught his attention because he'd heard someone call papa a demon. He'd wanted to correct that person (how dare they insult papa?!) but, at the time, papa had been in an okay mood and it had appeared that papa had not heard whoever it was and Lavi hadn't wanted to be the one to make papa angry so he'd not said anything. But even though he didn't want to think anything bad about papa, he had to agree that papa could be demonic sometimes…though, papa tried to keep his anger reined in around Lavi (something which made Lavi very happy, even though most of the time papa's attempts at not showing his anger proved futile and papa got mad anyway).

Lavi decided he'd been here long enough and, rising to his feet, he took in a mighty breath and bent down to lift his burden. "Ooh, heavy!" he huffed as he staggered. He wasn't that strong. No wonder papa was always saying he was a wuss. He felt a little saddened by this. And he'd wanted to prove to papa that he was growing stronger too…but after papa had fallen unconscious on the road yesterday, Lavi hadn't been able to stop crying. He'd tried to cry less since then. Papa was strong so Lavi had to be strong too!

The book was held firmly in his arms, though he could barely see over the top of it. So he practically made his way out of the library blindly (not that it mattered since he remembered the way in minute detail). He got tired easily so he had to stop frequently to catch his breath. This was exhausting!

He encountered many people on his way there and they all asked if he needed any help but he shied away from them. People who didn't associate with papa or weren't on good terms with papa were not to be trusted. But he did wish he'd come across Lenalee, Allen, Miranda, or Krory so that he could ask them for help. But it was lunchtime now so they were probably eating in the cafeteria.

He wondered if papa was up yet; papa had been asleep for a while now. After she was done eating, Lenalee would bring papa and Lavi's meals to the infirmary so Lavi had to hurry and get there before her because papa would certainly rise before the food arrived. Papa loved his soba, after all.

After what seemed like an eternity of hard labour (or just about twenty minutes, even though it was just a short walk from the library to the infirmary), Lavi finally stepped through the doors of the medical wing, dragging the book behind him because he'd run out of energy to hold it. He looked across at the last bed in the enormous chamber and was relieved to see that papa was still asleep.

Seeing that the nurse was sitting behind her station, Lavi went to ask her for help. "Excuse me," he said, willing himself to be tall enough to be seen over the edge of the counter. But, of course, he wasn't. But the nurse knew he was there anyway because she stood up and looked over the counter down at him. "Yes?"

"Help Lavi…with book…please?" Lavi mumbled timidly, pointing back at his burden. He didn't know this woman but she'd helped check papa over yesterday evening and today morning so she couldn't be a bad person. And she always smiled at Lavi.

The nurse looked to where he'd pointed and smiled. "Of course I'll help! Who's it for?"

"For papa!" Lavi responded cheerily. The woman picked up the book and walked towards papa's bed.

"Is that so? Are you reading to him?"

Lavi stopped. "Huh?"

The nurse looked back, still smiling. "It's nice to read to sick people."

"R-really?!" Lavi asked earnestly.

She chuckled. "Yup! It shows that there are people waiting for them to get better and makes them want to heal faster."

"Ok! Lavi read to papa!" Lavi exclaimed happily as he continued on after the nurse.

"I'm sure your papa will be better before you know it!"

"Yeah!"

So, when the nurse left for her desk, Lavi clambered up the bed to sit by papa and began the chore of dragging the book over to his lap. Opening it to the first page, he started to read to himself. Might as well get it perfect for when papa woke up.

* * *

Kanda's eyes opened. _Great, I'm still stuck in this useless place_, was his first thought. But before the grimness could set in, he noted little Lavi sitting beside him with a book as big as himself opened on his lap. There was an adorable little frown on his face as he struggled to keep the book in place and read at the same time.

The child turned his attention away from the book when he felt Kanda stir. "Papa!" he cried joyously as he slammed the book shut and slid it off his lap.

"Yo," Kanda greeted as the child climbed into his lap. He ruffled the boy's red hair. "Where'd the book come from?"

Lavi grinned. "Lavi brought it for papa!"

"Where from?"

"The library, of course!"

Kanda sighed. "You went wandering off on your own? You shouldn't do that."

Lavi frowned in puzzlement. "Because people want to…hurt Lavi?"

Kanda scoffed. "As if I'd let anyone do that."

Lavi smiled brightly as he laid his head against Kanda's chest. "Then nothing to worry about?"

Kanda looked disapprovingly down at the child. "That's not the problem. You might end up getting lost."

"Lavi have good memory." the boy said cheerily. "Lavi never get lost."

_I know that all too well_, Kanda thought sourly as he recalled the early days of Lavi's arrival at the Black Order. He'd been able to find Kanda no matter where the latter went (much to Kanda's dismay) and he'd had no problem getting around. It had annoyed Kanda because when he'd first come to the Black Order, it had taken him a long time to get used to the layout of the building. "Right. We'll see if you're still saying that after you can't find me one day and start blubbering."

"Then Lavi not leave papa." Lavi mumbled.

_So optimistic_, Kanda thought. "So, what's this book about?" he asked as he reached out and took the tome.

"It's about demons!" Lavi answered brightly.

Kanda gazed at the title. "Why demons?"

Lavi shrugged. "Lavi not know what papa like."

"Right." Kanda smiled suddenly. _He went to get a book for me, that's…cute_. Lately, he'd not had any problems using words like that, whereas before, saying those kinds of things would have cost him some of his manly pride. But he didn't care about petty issues like that anymore. And, besides, it was a statement of fact, right? Little Lavi was adorable.

Lavi looked up suddenly. "Lavi read to papa?"

Kanda was slightly taken aback; he'd not had many people read to him before. _He wants to read? To me? What for?_ "Well…I suppose…but what d'ya wanna read to me for?"

Lavi pointed a little finger towards the nurses' station. "Nurse said ill people get better quickly when other people read to them."

Kanda looked over at the nurse behind the desk. "Really?"

Lavi nodded.

"I see. All right then, let's read."

"Ok!"

And so, Lavi began to read. Like the last time in the library, he got quite a few mistakes but, still, his skill at reading was incredible for his age. Kanda wondered if the child was just that good or whether he still retained his knowledge from his adult self. It was possible. But then if that was the case, he wouldn't get so many mistakes.

And every time he got a mistake, he seemed annoyed. Kanda watched with an amused smirk as a tick marks appeared on the boy's face every time he got a word wrong.

Finally, he snapped. "Oh, too hard!" he then promptly shoved the book off Kanda's open palm. It fell to the bed and then slid off the edge and landed with a dull thud on the floor. Lavi pouted and folded his arms across his chest.

Kanda clamped a hand over his mouth at the little display of aggression. _That's…that's too cute!_ He thought, trying hard to hold in the sudden laughter that was travelling up his throat.

He was about to say something when he realised that Lenalee was walking towards them with a tray of food. She smiled. "So, he's finally starting to pick up your bad habits."

"Tch." Kanda huffed. He gave the boy a gentle push. "Pick it up and then we'll eat."

"Ok!" Lavi said, anger instantly forgotten as he hopped off the bed.

Lenalee set the tray down on Kanda's bedside table. "Sorry I'm late. Miranda was very excited today because Marie's coming back." she chuckled. "We don't often get to see her so…alive."

Kanda was about to give a blank grunt of acknowledgement but then the news really set in. "Wait, Marie's coming?"

She nodded as she bent down and helped Lavi with the tedious task of picking the book up. "Yup."

"And that means…" Kanda groaned.

"The General's _not_ coming." She laughed at his expression as he let out a huge sigh of relief. She finally took a seat in the chair beside Kanda's bed. "Miranda said that they were in France and Marie wanted to come back home but General Tiedoll had something to take care of down there. Chaozii's never had the chance to explore France that well so he wanted to stay too."

Kanda was hardly paying attention. Lavi crawled onto his lap and the man took a hold of the tray of food and set it down in front of him so they could eat. "So, when's Marie getting here?"

"He phoned just before noon saying that he was going to catch a ship from Calais tonight. Since there's no rush, he said he should be here by the day after tomorrow."

"Hey, I'll do that," Kanda said quickly as he took the chopsticks from Lavi's eager hands. He looked back up at Lenalee. "That woman, she didn't leak anything about what happened, did she?"

Lenalee tutted, "she has a name, you know. And, no, I don't think she did. Every time she sees or hears from Marie, nothing else registers." She chuckled. "I wonder when he'll propose…"

Kanda snorted as he began feeding (from a somewhat odd angle) the boy in his lap. "It might take him a while."

After they finished eating, Kanda handed the tray over and thanked Lenalee.

"It's no problem. I'll see you guys later. Bye, Lavi!" she smiled as she turned and waved at Lavi.

"Bye, Lenalee!"

The door at the further end closed. Kanda fell back onto his pillow. Lavi crawled off his lap and sat beside him.

"Papa?" he asked.

"Hmm?"

"What kind of propose?"

"Eh?" Kanda looked over at the boy, confused. "What're you talkin about?"

"Lenalee said propose?"

"Ah, that. A marriage proposal, ya know, like when…"

"Silly papa, Lavi know what marriage is."

_He just insulted me_, Kanda thought, _but I don't need offended_. He chose to ignore it and raised an eyebrow. "Oh? Do you?"

Lavi nodded. "It when man and woman unite and spend rest of their lives together."

The man's eyebrow couldn't climb any higher up his forehead. "Interesting choice of words for a little guy like you. How _old_ are you, kid?"

Lavi grinned and held up three fingers. "Lavi three years old!"

"Doesn't seem like it."

"Because Lavi a big boy!"

"Right." Kanda ruffled the boy's hair. Tilting his head to the side, Lavi frowned as he stared at the man's face. "What?" Kanda asked.

"Will papa ever get married?"

Kanda nearly choked on his own spit. "Wh-what're you talkin about?! Kids shouldn't worry about this kind of thing!"

Lavi's frown became even tighter. "But papa…isn't papa lonely?"

Kanda sighed and patted Lavi's head. "Of course I'm not."

The boy was still frowning. "But…why…? Allen have Lenalee but papa have no one…"

_This kid, just how much does he notice?_ Kanda wondered. Allen and Lenalee weren't very open about their relationship (since it was much too dangerous with Komui around), and anyway, what on earth would a little kid know about that anyway? "This shouldn't bother you. Even if I do feel that way, you shouldn't worry about it, all right?"

"But Lavi can't help it." Lavi mumbled, fidgeting with the sleeve of his shirt.

Kanda permitted a small smile to curl the corner of his mouth. "Little old geezer. Anyway, I have an annoying, self-proclaimed best friend who keeps me company so there's no time to feel lonely."

Lavi looked up once more. "Huh? Who?"

"He looks like you, he's got the same hair as you, he talks about as much as you do…probably even more, and he's as much of an idiot as you are." The man grinned. "But, even with all his annoying traits, I think he's kinda decent." _And I hope he won't remember this when he turns back to normal_, he prayed. He didn't need Lavi gloating about this when he went back to normal.

Lavi was in awe. "Someone…like Lavi?"

Kanda figured if the boy didn't already know what had happened to him, then there wasn't any point telling him. It was too troublesome. He nodded, "Yeah. Someone just like you."

"What he called?"

"He's…Bookman Junior." Kanda replied.

Lavi giggled."Strange name! He nice to papa?"

Kanda nodded slowly. "I suppose…he is."

"So, papa really not lonely?"

"I told you it's fine; I don't have time to feel lonely."

Lavi smiled brightly. "Ok, then papa in good hands!"

Kanda gave the child a blank stare. "I'm older than you are, you know. Don't talk about me as if I'm at your level."

The little redhead pouted. "But still, if Lavi not here, papa be angry all the time? And papa not talk to anybody when papa angry and papa not have fun at all!"

_That's…probably true_, Kanda mused. He ruffled the boy's hair again and smiled. "You're right. If you weren't here, I wouldn't be like I am now."

Lavi's green eye glimmered. "Really, papa?!"

_So hopeful, so attached_, Kanda sighed. "Yeah."

* * *

It was a bit shorter than usual but enjoyable to read, I hope :) above all, one should enjoy what one reads, no? Ugh...I sound so old...Anyway, sorry for any mistakes; I'm too lazy to read through it again :( wonder how on earth I'll make it as a pro writer with that kinda stinky attitude...

Next update will be on the 16th, hopefully. Take care, people! And thank you for reading ^_^


	12. Lily Ann

Hello, people! YAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAY, tomorrow is the 17th!!! so lookin forward to that fifty page chapter :D haha, so excited! DGM MAKES A COMEBACK! But, we'll only get to read it when someone translates it, right? :( who knows how long that's going to take. Hopefully, by the time I get back from my little five-day excursion starting tomorrow, it'll be up :D ah, that talkin of my five-day excursion, next update will be on Saturday and not Friday, sorry.

Anyway, I hope you are all enjoying this story (even if Kanda gets OOC every now and then, but it's for a good cause XD)

Oooh, and this chapter sees the introduction of Lily-Ann, my little OC. Aw, bless her, she's so cute! But, yeah, she's just got a small part.

* * *

Another day passed in the infirmary. Kanda was frequently bored so he decided to follow his charge's example and slept the hours away. But they couldn't just sleep all the time. Lavi was getting bored too. Lenalee had brought down his paper pad and colouring pencils but they'd not kept him entertained for long so he took to investigating whatever he could of the chamber they were in.

"Papa, papa, look, look!" he called out. Kanda looked. Lavi pushed a button on the side of a nearby bed he was lying on. The end of the bed shot up, pushing his legs up into the air. He giggled and pressed another button and it became flat again. He toyed around with it, first sending the foot of the bed up, and then the head.

Kanda sighed. "Don't mess around. If the head nurse comes back to find you foolin around with her stuff, she'll punish you."

Lavi didn't listen and kept going. Kanda heaved another weary sigh. He didn't blame the kid though; it was really boring. And he couldn't meditate with Lavi around. He really hated being here; he wasn't usually one to complain of boredom.

"Papa?"

"What?"

"Lavi bored."

"What do you want me to do about that? I'm bored too. At least you're allowed to move around freely." Kanda didn't understand why he had to stay on the bed all the time. His healing process was a lot better than that of average people so the fracture in his shin was already closing up, although his foot was still numb. But he could still walk!

"Then Lavi sleep?" Lavi asked, running towards Kanda's bed and crashing against the side. "Owie!"

Kanda reached over and lifted the child up. "Take it easy. You can sleep if you want, but it'll be lunchtime soon."

Lavi grinned up at him. "Then Lavi play with papa!"

Kanda was about to reply when he noticed out of the corner of his eye that the door to the infirmary was being opened. He looked over as Lenalee stepped through. "Hey, guys!" she called out. "I brought a guest!"

Kanda frowned, wondering who this "guest" might be. Lenalee's arm was stretched outside of the doorway. She gave a tug to whoever was outside and sighed when she got no results. "Come on, Lily. It's all right."

Slowly, a little girl peeped around the frame. She had long, curly brown hair and green eyes which were opened wide. Lenalee tugged at her hand and she reluctantly stepped forward. She wore a lilac frock with matching ballet-type shoes and a ribbon of the same colour in her hair. Her eyes were locked on Lavi the moment she saw him.

"Haha, what a cute girl!" Lavi exclaimed as he slid off Kanda's lap.

Kanda clamped a hand over his mouth and fell face-first onto his pillow as sudden laughter bubbled up his throat. _What the hell was that?!_ He thought, trying hard to suppress his mirth.

"Kanda, are you okay?" Lenalee asked.

He cleared his throat and, pulling on his most serious expression, he turned and sat up properly. "I'm fine."

Lavi had slid off the bed and was approaching the shy little girl. "Hi, my name is Lavi! You're Lily?" The little girl nodded as she drew into Lenalee's side.

"Who's this?" Kanda asked.

"This is Lily-Ann. She's the daughter of a friend of mine. Morgan, you remember her?"

"How the hell am I supposed to remember?" Kanda frowned.

"She used to be a Finder."

Kanda gave the girl a blank stare. "Again, how am I supposed to remember?"

Lenalee rolled her eyes. "All right. Not that it matters but Morgan sometimes asks me to look after Lily when she has things to do. Isn't she adorable?!"

Both turned their attention to the two children. Lavi was chattering away about something. He suddenly pointed at Kanda. "That Lavi papa. Lily can't have him, okay?"

Looking confused, Lily just nodded. Kanda wanted to laugh again, but he controlled himself. _He's always coming out with such weird things_, he thought.

"See, papa nice to Lavi _only_. He Lavi papa _only_."

"Hey, Kanda, say something to him. I brought Lily down here so she could play with him but he's scaring her off. She's awfully shy, you know." Lenalee complained.

But Kanda was too amused to say anything. _I'm being made to sound like a possession, and by this little runt too_…he thought. But he wasn't offended. Rather, he wanted to laugh again. For some reason, these instances were becoming less rare the more time he spent with this little child.

Lenalee, realising it was pointless asking Kanda, squatted down so she was level with the children. "Lavi, be nice to Lily, okay? Lily doesn't have many friends at school, you know."

The boy abandoned the boastful attitude as he looked the little girl up and down. "Really? You go to school?! Wow!"

Kanda could tell it took Lenalee a great amount of effort not to bury her face in her palm. She gave Lavi a small smile. "Well, it's not really school; just nursery. Why don't you play with her, hmm? I brought her down here to meet you."

Lavi assessed this information awhile before heaving a huge sigh and nodding his head. "Ok, Lavi play with Lily."  
"Great!" Lenalee smiled. She stood up. "Now, Lily, go play, okay?" she tried to shake her hand out of Lily's grasp but the little girl clung on even tighter.

Kanda was having a hard time keeping his amusement reined in. It wouldn't do to suddenly start laughing; he might come across as a little insane. But it was hardly his fault! Lavi was just too cute sometimes!

Lenalee pried her hand forcefully out of Lily's grasp and squatted down before her. She smiled as she placed her hands on the child's shoulder. "Relax, Lily. Lavi's a good kid. The two of you might become friends! So, how about it?"

Lily looked indecisive. She looked from Lavi to Lenalee and then up at Kanda. She seemed to draw back a little when she glanced at the latter though, a fact which annoyed Kanda a fair bit. Did he have the word "monster" written across his forehead or something?

"Haha, Lily scared of papa!" Lavi giggled.

"Oi, Lavi, just go play with her." Kanda said. "You were bored, weren't you?"

"Ok, papa!" And so, Lavi took Lily's other hand and pointed to the bed he'd been playing on before. "Wanna play? That move up and down! It really fun!"

Lily glanced quizzically up at Lenalee. Lenalee gave her a gentle push towards where Lavi was pointing. "I'll be right here, all right?"

Lily finally nodded and let herself be dragged off by the little redhead. Lenalee smiled as she settled in the chair beside Kanda's bed. "His people skills are quite…developed." she mumbled, watching as Lavi explained what was so good about the bed they'd stopped at. Lily nodded as he talked.

Kanda scoffed. "He's not a normal kid."

"That might be because of the chemical though. Maybe his mind's stuck halfway between a child's and an adult's?"

"Or maybe he really was this developed when he was this small?" Kanda suggested. He wouldn't doubt it. But then, Lenalee had a point too; he had wondered whether Lavi might retain his former thought patterns and knowhow but there were some things which he did that he wouldn't do as his adult self so maybe the mindsets of his child self and his normal self were stuck in limbo?

She laughed. "That's possible. You never know with Lavi."  
"Hmm…"

The children were now sitting on the hospital bed, pressing the buttons at the side and giggling when the head side shot up, nearly throwing them off. Lily was still shy; she didn't talk, though she seemed to be listening very intently when Lavi spoke.

"Any news on Marie?" Kanda asked.

"Ah, yeah, he called Miranda a while ago and said he was in Dover. He'll definitely be here for tomorrow morning."

"Why doesn't he just come today? He could make it."

Lenalee shrugged. "There isn't any rush."

"Hmm…I figured he'd be anxious to see that woman. He's always…I don't know…lively when she's around?" He wondered why he was even participating in this conversation; it wasn't like any of this had anything to do with him.

Lenalee chuckled. "They both become lively when the other's around. But Marie's at least all right by himself, whereas Miranda…" she sighed, "she gets even clumsier."

Kanda made no response to this as he glanced over at Lavi again. The two children were still playing around with the hospital bed's functions. If the Head Nurse caught them at it, she'd give them severe punishment.

* * *

"So, Lily talk?" Lavi asked.

Lily looked down at the floor, blushing. "Um…I…don't…I don't…I never…," she struggled to get the words out but when she couldn't, tears started to gather at her eyes.

They were both sitting cross-legged on the floor by the bed they'd been playing on earlier. The Head Nurse had come a while ago and gave them such a disapproving look that they'd not dared to resume their play. So Lavi had decided he wanted to hear some stories. But this was a problem since Lily had only said two or three words during the entire time she'd been here.

"Hey, Lily?" he mumbled, looking at her quizzically.

She was trying hard to keep her tears in. Lavi looked over at Lenalee and saw that she was coming towards them. "Lily, what's the matter?" she asked as she knelt beside the little girl.

Lily looked up at Lenalee. "I…I…can't…" again, a look of helplessness screwed up her features.

Lenalee sighed as she wiped at the little girl's eyes. "It's all right, Lily." she said softly.

"Hey, Lily okay?" Lavi asked.

Lenalee smiled. "Lily has a small problem, you see. She doesn't know the language that well, Lavi, so she can't say what she wants to say and…that's frustrating, no?"

He gazed at Lily in awe. "Oh. Is that why Lily not have any friends?"

Lenalee nodded, patting the little girl's head. "Yeah. All the other children stay away because she doesn't talk to them."

After a moment or two of thinking, Lavi grinned. "Then, Lily don't need to talk; Lavi talk and Lily listen, okay?"

Lily looked over at him in surprise. Lenalee smiled and stood up. "That's kind of you, Lavi."

Lavi grinned. "Lavi kind, just like papa!"

Lenalee chuckled. "Of course." She looked down at Lily once more before going back to sit at Kanda's bedside.

Lavi smiled and scooted closer to the little girl. "Lily really cute!"

She blushed furiously and fidgeted with the hem of her frock. "Lavi…the first…friend…first…um…" she bit her bottom lip, looking ready to cry again.

Lavi took her hand, making her look up. He grinned. "If talking difficult, then Lily not need to try so hard."

She mouth opened but no words came out. Lavi gave her hand a small squeeze. She stopped trying to speak and just smiled shyly instead. "O-ok."

If other kids didn't like talking to Lily because she couldn't talk back properly, then that was very small-minded, Lavi felt. How could someone make any kind of assumption when they didn't know anything about the other person? That was mean, and Lavi didn't like meanness.

"Hey, c'mon! Let's play tag!" Lavi cried, jumping to his feet and dragging her up with him.

"Y-yeah!" she said. But she looked around the chamber they were in. There were beds along both sides of the room and there wasn't much running space.

Lavi interpreted her expression correctly and grinned again. "We go over beds."

She blinked owlishly. "Eh…?"

He shrugged. "Play tag over beds."

* * *

Kanda sighed. "If your leg's hurting so bad, then just cry. I won't think badly of you for it."

"B-but…papa…papa said men not cry!" Lavi stammered, burrowing his head into Kanda's chest. One little hand clutched his knee tightly. His shoulders were shaking but he was trying his best not to cry.

The man scoffed and put an arm around Lavi's small frame. "In that case, who told you to run around in a place like this? You should have known you'd fall, jumping over stuff."

"L-Lavi…Lavi sorry, papa." the little boy mumbled.

Kanda clicked his tongue and patted Lavi's red head softly. Lavi's shoulders soon stopped shaking and he sat up, wiping at his eye. When he looked up at Kanda, he wore a shaky smile. "L-Lavi all better!"

Kanda was a little impressed. The green eye was dry, not at all like Lavi had been crying. He smiled and smoothed back Lavi's hair. "Atta boy."

"Lavi strong now?"

Kanda smiled a little and nodded. "You're getting there." Lavi grinned brightly.

Lily looked on with an awed expression. She looked up at Lenalee, who was also observing the two. Lenalee noticed her charge was gazing at her and looked down. "What is it, Lily?"

"He…didn't…" as usual, when stuck for words, she began to feel the anguish that she felt when she couldn't get her meaning across. She knew what she wanted to say, but she didn't know how to say it. Tears began pricking at her eyes again, but she tried her hardest to keep them in. She'd finally found a friend who could accept her for how she was; she shouldn't cry and scare him away. "He…not…he not…cry?"

Lenalee chuckled. "That's right. He can be a strong little boy, if he wants."

"Then…I…me too…" Lily mumbled.

Lavi had taken a bad fall. They'd been playing tag and Lavi had been chasing after her and he'd jumped down from a bed and fallen and hurt his knee. But he'd not cried. That was so brave to her, who always started to tear up whenever she was even a little upset.

She had to be like that. Mommy didn't like it when Lily cried, and neither did daddy. But Lily had never thought to try to be strong before. But she had to be like that now. She would watch and learn and see how people spoke rather than crying about what she couldn't do all the time. Mommy must feel bad about that. Lily had to be strong.

Lenalee smiled. "That's good to hear, Lily."

Lily smiled tentatively too.

* * *

Children do have that problem sometimes, right? They get frustrated cuz they can't tell others what they mean? My little cousin, when he was about two or three, he had that problem, I think. But it wasn't that bad, yo.

Anyway, as always, I'm going to ask for ideas for LK-friendship one-shots. My inspiration's running out and I wanna write but nothing comes to mind! Oh, woe is me! Cuz, I've finished writing Childhood (which still needs a better name -_-) so I've got nothing to do :( as I thought, I need to get a life...but I love my laptop too much XD


	13. Bath Time

Huzzah! I bring you the next chapter!!

Talking of chapters, chapter 187 wasn't as good as I thought it'd be. Here I am, thinking we'd get some info on Kanda's backstory and he only appears in it for like ONE PAGE! The ef?! But, still, can't complain. All the Noah and everything; it was so cool!! And we finally saw the human form of the Earl, huh? That was him right, the dude on the last page? He looks like Shunsui Kyouraku from Bleach XD

Enjoy this people! There's a bath scene XXD though it's not that good :(

* * *

That night, the Head Nurse came to check up on him once more. Feeling along the site of the injury, she nodded in satisfaction and straightened up.

"Looks like it's all but healed." she said.

"So can I go?" Kanda asked.

"No. The fracture has closed up but you might want to give it another night. You can leave in the morning."

"Why do I have to do that?" the dark-haired man grumbled.

"Because your foot is still numb, no? It might take a while for everything to start working normally again. Just rest here until morning and I'll see how it is and then you can leave."

"Tch. Whatever."

She left him alone after that. Kanda sighed and laid himself down beside his already sleeping charge. _I can finally leave_.

Morning couldn't come quickly enough.

When he opened his eyes, he found Lavi sitting up and combing his hair. Or…trying to, although his hold on the comb wasn't right. Kanda buried his face in his pillow to stifle the sudden snicker that climbed up his throat. _Great start to the day_, he thought.

"Papa!" Lavi cried out, realising he was awake.

Kanda sat up, stretching as he did so. "Morning."

"Morning! Papa leave here today!"

Kanda frowned. "How d'you know?"

Lavi grinned. "Lavi a magician!"

The man rolled his eyes. "Is that so? Then, magic us some breakfast, would you?"

The boy's grin grew. "It already here." he pointed towards the doorway, where Lenalee had just come in, carrying a tray of food.

"Morning!" she called out.

"Yo."  
"Hey, Lenalee! Hey, hey, is Lily coming today?" Lavi asked eagerly.

Lenalee laughed as she came to a stop and handed the tray over. "I wanted to talk to you about that. It seems Lily had a nice time yesterday and she wants to come to play again. Morgan called and said she was going to bring Lily over…but only if the weather's good."  
"Yay!"

They ate breakfast and then the Head Nurse came and checked Kanda's injury. They were allowed to leave. Kanda got the few things they'd brought with them and headed out the infirmary. The first thing he wanted to do was have a shower. He absently gazed down at Lavi and the thought crossed his mind that, in the week since Lavi had changed into a kid, he'd not had a bath.

_Huh…? WHAT?!_ He thought, shocked. Lavi had not had a bath in a week! That was disgusting! Back when they'd still had missions to go to, on _very_ _rare_ occasions, it had been understandable when they didn't get to wash for days when trekking through places far from any kind of civilisation. But those days were long gone so nobody really had an excuse to stay dirty like that.

And, the one at fault here was Kanda because he'd not really thought to give the child a bath. _Disgusting! What kind of a guardian are you?!_ He though, appalled. "Oi, hurry up! You're gonna have a bath!"

"Wha…?" Lavi didn't get to finish whatever he'd been saying as Kanda took a hold of one of his hands and dragged him off down the passageway as fast as his newly healed leg would allow. And that was pretty fast. Lavi was reeling by the end of it.

When Kanda got to his room, he found a pile of clean clothes folded neatly at the foot of his bed. Picking out an outfit for Lavi, as well as a towel and a bar of unopened soap, he ran out again with Lavi at his side.

"Papa?"

"What?"

"Lavi have bath?"

"Yeah. It's been more than a week since you've had one." There was no more talk as they got to the bathroom.

Kanda hardly ever used the bathtubs in the individual cubicles in the bathroom. It was much quicker and more convenient to use the showers instead. But he couldn't have Lavi take a shower because the child wouldn't be able to wash himself properly and Kanda didn't want to have a shower _with_ the boy because…that was just weird.

Rolling his sleeves up, Kanda placed Lavi's fresh clothes and the towel in a pile at the corner of the bath and then started filling up the tub, after which he turned to undress the little boy. "I-it…cold," Lavi shivered.

"You'll get warm soon," Kanda responded as he picked the boy up and lowered him into the tub.

As soon as Lavi's feet touched the water he jerked them away again, causing Kanda to nearly drop him. "Water too hot!"

Kanda held the boy against him with one arm and then twisted the other faucet too, causing cold water to gush out. Lavi didn't protest this time when he stepped into the water. "Sit down or you'll slip."

"Ok."

He began to have fun after a while, dunking his arms in and out sending water splashing everywhere. "Oi, Lavi, stop that!" Kanda protested, wiping a trail of water away from his eyes.

Lavi giggled. "Sorry papa."

"Uh-huh, well, if you're sorry, then stop doing it, idiot!"

Lavi only laughed in response. Kanda grumbled something about "ungrateful little runts" and poured some water over the child's head. "All right, close your eyes tight, okay?" with that, he lathered his hands and ran them through Lavi's hair as gently as he could.

"Ow!" when the child cried out, it was his ruined eye which he turned towards Kanda. The eye patch had been removed and put to the side so Kanda could see the scared skin clearly.

"What is it? You get soap in your eye? I told you to shut em tight."

"L-Lavi can't…it won't…shut properly," Lavi mumbled. It was still the ruined eye which was turned towards Kanda, because the other one was hidden behind soaking wet strands of red hair. Kanda didn't really like looking at it…it made him feel pity…and disgust too, and he didn't want to direct those kinds of feelings towards the child.

Kanda heaved a mighty sigh. "All right, tilt your head back. I'll wash the soap out as soon as possible."

"O-ok." Lavi agreed as he tilted his head back as far as it would go.

After washing the hair, Kanda rinsed the little body…but he left the little bit between Lavi's legs because that was just…too awkward. He felt like a pervert for just doing this so no way he was going to take it any further.

It soon came to an end. "We're done." Kanda said with a sigh of relief. It hadn't been long but the way he was sitting wasn't very comfortable and his legs were falling asleep.

But Lavi didn't want to get out. "Lavi, come on, you're done." Kanda repeated. "You're gonna start to feel cold again." He reached out to pick the towel up from the pile at the corner of the bath but, as he did so, Lavi's clean clothes, folded up underneath the towel, slipped off and fell into the water. "Great," Kanda snorted as he picked them up and wrung them out as best he could before putting them back at the side of the tub. He turned back to the joyous little boy. "Oi, Lavi, stand up."

"B-but, papa!" Lavi protested, still splashing. "It warm here."

_He looks ridiculously happy_, Kanda thought. He didn't want to spoil the child's fun but things were starting to wear on his nerves a little. "It'll be warm when you get dried up and get dressed. Come on."

"Lavi don't wanna!" Lavi pouted.

Massaging his temple, Kanda tried hard not to yell at the boy. "You can have another one tomorrow, okay?" he said. He was quite impressed with his self-restraint so far; it had been ages since he'd really gotten angry at Lavi. Well…these past few days, Lavi hadn't really given him a reason to get angry. But whatever the cause of this equilibrium, he was losing his control now.

"But Lavi wanna play!"

Trying hard to not let his anger show, Kanda took in a deep breath and said, "Get up."

If Lavi heard the different tone in his guardian's voice, he didn't show it because he continued to splash around. "Just a little while, please?" he asked, looking up at Kanda. The expression on Kanda's face made him stop splashing. It was utterly blank, even the eyes. "Pa…pa…?"

"Stand up," Kanda said in the same tone as before.

"O-okay…" Lavi stammered as he stood up without another word.

Kanda wrapped the towel around him and lifted him out of the bathtub. He pulled the plug to send the water whirling down the drain and then picked up Lavi's wet clothes. Setting everything that he'd brought with him in an orderly pile, he then picked the pile up and held it out to Lavi. Lavi looked from the items to Kanda's face, his expression one of confusion.

"Hold these." Kanda instructed.

From beneath the much-too-large towel, Lavi held out his little arms and Kanda put down the items. He then rose to his feet. "I don't suppose you'll walk back?"

"Pick up." The boy looked glum, staring down intently at the items in his hands.

"All right."

Kanda reached down and scooped the boy up in his arms and then left the bathroom.

* * *

After Lavi's bath, Kanda went to have a shower and had to leave his charge with Lenalee, which made the already upset boy even sadder. About half an hour later, when Kanda went to retrieve him from Lenalee's room, Lavi was throwing a tantrum and wouldn't shut up.

There weren't any tears coming out of his eye but he was making a god-awful racket and rolling around on the floor. When Lenalee tried to pick him up, he wriggled out of her grasp and proceeded to continue kicking about on the floor.

The door was open so Kanda went in. He'd heard the wailing from all the way down the corridor. He'd never seen the boy like this before. "Lavi?"

Lavi didn't hear over the sound of his own cries but Lenalee did. She breathed a sigh of relief when she looked up at him. "He's been like this since a while after you left." she said. "Did something happen earlier?"

Kanda shrugged. "I don't know. He didn't want to get out of the bath…maybe that's why."

Lenalee nodded understandingly and looked back at the boy, still lost in his tantrum. Kanda stopped before the boy. "Lavi."

Lavi heard him this time as he shut up and stopped rolling around. "P-pa…pa…?"

Kanda exhaled deeply and, falling to one knee, he motioned the child closer. Lavi stood up, wiping at his eye, and came to stand before Kanda. "What's the matter?"

Looking down, Lavi shrugged. "Lavi…miss papa…"

"I was only gone for about half an hour. I did say I'd say I'd come get you after I was done. Was there really a need to make that racket? Lenalee was looking after you; you should have been grateful."

"Sorry."

"It's not me you should apologise to."

Turning a little to the side, Lavi spoke to the floor. "Sorry, Lenalee."

Lenalee smiled. "That's okay! I know you missed Kanda a lot." Her next words were directed at Kanda, "don't be too hard on him."

Kanda pulled the child close. Lavi's little arms twined about his neck. "Of course I won't." He heaved himself up, with the child still clinging onto him. "Thanks, Lenalee. We'll see you at lunch." he said over his shoulder as he exited the room.

"No problem." Lenalee called after him.

By the time Kanda got back to his room, Lavi was falling asleep. So, maybe he'd been cranky because he'd needed his nap. Who knew when he'd been awake since? When Kanda had asked earlier, Lavi had said he'd gotten up at five but the man wasn't too sure whether Lavi could read a clock or not…but he since he was a super baby, of a sort, Kanda didn't see any reason to doubt it.

He put the child to bed and, staring around the room, he wondered what to do. There was quite a bit of time to go before lunch. He didn't feel like meditating. He didn't feel like doing anything, really, because he…he was feeling guilty.

He realised this as he spared Lavi another glance. It had been going so well these past couple of days; Kanda had tried his best to be more temperate and it had worked. Showing a child a completely nonchalant, cold attitude was probably worse than shouting at him.

Kanda had been trying his best to be calm and, although he'd managed not to snap, he hadn't meant for Lavi to feel so distanced. The kid had been gloomy ever since then. He'd said little as Kanda had gotten him dressed and took him over to Lenalee.

And that was another thing; although he openly showed that he didn't like being away from Kanda, he was usually all right if he was with Lenalee (all the more so if Kanda was still around). He'd never had a fiasco like the one with her just now.

Kanda sighed and sat down at the edge of the bed, looking down at the child's sleeping face. He stroked one smooth, chubby cheek with the back of his finger, once again quite astounded at how little Lavi was. Kanda had never had any interactions with such small kids before.

He'd thought this whole incident would prove to be burdensome but he'd grown to like looking after the child. Maybe it was because the mixture that had been dropped on Lavi caused the redhead to be so trusting of Kanda; Lavi listened to what Kanda said (most of the time), he didn't go to anyone else, and he relied so much on Kanda. So it surely would have been a totally different story if Kanda had had to take care of an actual child.

But, he wouldn't want to take care of another child; this one was perfect. A small smile graced the man's lips as he lay down beside the boy. He didn't mind that this had happened. He didn't mind pretending to be the father of this boy. He didn't mind the assortment of warm feelings he felt whenever the child wanted to show him something, or ran up to him, or twined his tiny little arms around Kanda's neck, or when he smiled.

He didn't mind all those things, he realised; he really _liked_ all those things.

"Papa…papa…hey, papa…"

Kanda stirred and slowly woke to find Lavi shaking his shoulder. "Wh-what is it?" he asked as he suppressed a yawn and sat up.

"Lavi hungry."

"It must be about lunchtime anyway. Let's go." Kanda said, still half asleep. He yawned as he slipped off the bed and stood up. "Put your shoes on."

"Ok."

He yawned again. He was still tired and wouldn't have minded resting a bit more but if the kid was hungry, they had to deal with that.

As he walked towards the door, he left a tug at his pant leg. "Papa?" Lavi looked up at him hopefully.

"What is it?"

He held his arms up. "Pick up?"

Kanda grumbled but lifted the boy up anyway. "Better?"

Lavi nodded as he slumped against Kanda with his arms twined about the man's neck. As Kanda walked, the silence got to him. Usually, Lavi was never this quiet.

"What's wrong, Lavi?"

Lavi pulled back to gaze at Kanda with a furrowed brow. "Huh?"

"You've been kind of down today. What's wrong?" Kanda repeated, looking at the child intently.

Lavi looked away. "Um…nothing." he mumbled with a little shrug of the shoulders.

"I don't buy that. C'mon, tell me. Is it because of what I said during bath time?"

"Um…" he didn't say anything more than that, just another shrug.

Kanda sighed. "If you don't tell me, I'll make you walk."

"No, Lavi don't wanna walk." the boy muttered gloomily.

"So, spill it."

Lavi sighed. It was kind of amusing to Kanda since the boy was so small and he made it look like he was bearing such a big burden…maybe he'd learnt it off Kanda, because Kanda sighed in irritation a lot. Kanda tried hard to keep the smile off his face (because he was being serious here), but it failed. Lavi blinked. "Why…papa smiling?"

"Cuz you're like a little old man. Forget that now, tell me what's wrong."

"Why papa so persistent?"

Did he even know what persistent meant? He was only a three year old kid! But then again…it was only to be expected of a super-baby.

"Because I wanna know."

"Why?"

"There's no 'why' about it; I just do. Now stop quizzing and tell me."

"But Lavi okay now." and, as if to prove it, he smiled his usual, bright, carefree smile.

So what _was_ wrong?"

Lavi shrugged as he laid his head against Kanda's shoulder. "Lavi thought…papa mad…"

"I always get irritated; you shouldn't take it personally."

"But…Lavi can't help it…cuz papa gets mad because of Lavi."

"I don't get mad. I just get a tiny _little_ bit irritated when _someone_ doesn't listen to me."

Lavi pulled back again to look at Kanda quizzically. "Someone?"

Kanda grinned and touched his forehead to the little boy's. "A small someone with red hair."

Lavi pointed a finger at himself. "Lavi?"

"Exactly."

He looked sad. "Sorry papa."

Kanda rolled his eyes. "I was kidding."

"Kidding…?" Lavi's eye went wide. "S-since when?"

"Hey, what're you trying to say? Is it a crime for me to joke around?"

Lavi smiled once more. "Nope."

Kanda ruffled the boy's hair. "Glad to hear it."

When they got to the kitchen, everybody was already eating so there wasn't that big a queue at the hatch. Kanda stepped up with Lavi still in his arms.

"Hi, Lavi~!" Jerry cooed as soon as he saw them.

Lavi's hands balled into tight fists clutching Kanda's shirt. "Two of the usual, please." Kanda said.

"Ok~!"

He put Lavi down when their food was ready. Turning with the tray, he heard someone shout his name from a nearby table. "Hey, Kanda! Over here!"

Looking over, he saw that Lenalee and the others were still having lunch. As usual, he didn't particularly care for sitting with the group but he went anyway, seeing as though Lavi was already making his way towards them.

"Yo!" Allen greeted Lavi as the child clambered up onto the bench.

"Hi, bean sprout!" Lavi snickered.

"Oi, it's Allen! I told you not to listen to what Kanda says!" Allen cried indignantly.

Kanda set down his load and sat down next to his charge. "Shut up, bean sprout."

"Don't fight! We should all get along! It's such a nice day today!" Surprisingly, this utterance came from Miranda. Kanda turned to look at the German woman to find that she wore a brilliant smile and…the very air around her seemed to be charged with a positive energy.

"That reminds me, isn't Marie here yet?" he asked.

Miranda's smile didn't abate a bit as she replied, "his train got delayed but he'll be here within the hour!"

"Must be nice knowing you're going to see someone you love," Krory answered glumly, picking at the food on his plate.

"Ah, don't worry, Krory! I'm sure you'll find someone one day!" Allen supplied, patting the man's shoulder.

"But I don't want to find "someone"," the vampire-like man responded.

"Ah…um…" not knowing what to say to that, Allen just patted Krory's shoulder again.

"Rather, we should all be happy for Miranda," Lenalee smiled. "She's not often like this."

Miranda flushed. "S-sorry…I'm getting carried away, aren't I? I'm sorry!" She bowed, almost banging her head on the tabletop.

"Ah, no, no! That's not what I meant at all!" Lenalee cried, waving her hands to ward off incorrect assumptions. "We're really very happy for you! You _should_ be happy!"

"R-really? You don't think I'm…being too proud…?" the German woman mumbled. "I don't want everyone to think "ugh, here she goes again"…I'm sorry!"

Allen laughed. "We don't think that. And I don't think the word "proud" fits in with you at all. And besides, if you have something to be happy about, then be happy, no? There shouldn't be any questions about what kind of opinions others have of you."

"Then bean sprout and Lenalee not care what others think too?" Lavi suddenly quipped. Up until now, Kanda had been feeding Lavi quietly, watching as the little boy listened intently to the conversation that was going on.

Five pairs of eyes stared hard at the little child. "Um…wh-why am I being told something like that from…from a child?" Allen stammered, trying hard to hide his sudden embarrassment. Lenalee looked a little uncomfortable too. They didn't often talk about their relationship in the company of others so it must be a little awkward being told something like that, especially from a little boy.

"That's pretty amazing. Does he even know what Allen was talking about?" Miranda wondered.

Kanda snorted. "He does."

"Really?! That's incredible!"

A small smile curved the corner of Kanda's mouth. "It really is." he mumbled, just loud enough for Lavi to hear. Lavi grinned, looking very proud of himself.

Lenalee sighed. "Well…it's all well and good not caring what others think but…brother would create a big ruckus."

"That's putting it lightly." Allen said morosely. "I'd get murdered if he found out."

"In such an event, good riddance," Kanda grunted.

"Oi, shut up, Kanda! No one asked you!"

"Tch. Whatever."

Lenalee changed the subject and asked Miranda about the future, of all things. The moment Kanda was done with his own dinner, he stood up. "Come on, Lavi."

"Hey, you just got out the infirmary today; why don't you guys hang around awhile?" Allen offered.

Kanda scoffed as he turned around and made to leave. "No thanks."

"Bye, bean sprout!" Lavi called back.

"Oi, I told you it's Allen!"

Lavi only giggled as he went after Kanda. "Papa, can we go outside?" he asked, taking a hold of Kanda's hand.

"Sure." Kanda replied.

But, when they arrived at the entrance and threw open the door, Kanda realised that going outside with their current attire would probably result in catching a cold; the wind was blowing steadily and rain was falling to the ground in a never-ending stream. The clouds were an angry blackish-grey, rumbling ominously, threatening thunder.

"Papa, we still go outside?" Lavi asked.

Kanda sighed and turned around. "I don't know. Do you want to?"

"Yeah! Yeah! Lavi splash in the rain!" Lavi exclaimed excitedly and did a demonstration of jumping into a puddle.

"You might catch a cold."

"Then papa catch cold too!" Lavi giggled.

"Oi, that's not funny, you know. I just recovered."

Lavi looked up with a hopeful expression on his face. Did all kids like the rain? Normal Lavi wasn't particularly fond of it; he said it was impossible to read outside when it was raining because the drops of water made the ink run and ruined books. Kanda wondered why anyone would attempt to read outside during a downpour in the first place.

He sighed again. "All right, if you're that desperate, we'll go. But it's your fault if we both catch a cold."  
"Eh?! That not fair! If Lavi decide…papa no catch a cold!"

He wasn't sure he understood that fully. Lavi faltered sometimes when he couldn't find the right words to say what he felt, which Kanda found a little odd; wasn't the boy able to read pretty well for his age? His vocabulary was amazing at this early stage in development. And he had a lot more understanding of his surroundings than normal kids his age so why couldn't he speak in full sentences? _Well, he can't have everything_, Kanda thought.

"If you say so. All right, we'll go get a jacket or something for you and then we'll go outside, okay?"

"Ok!"

Sometimes when it rained, Kanda wished they were back in the old HQ; back there, he'd been able to go up to the roof sometimes and it had felt so serene, especially when it had rained. It was like the shower washed away his anxieties (which he'd always had a lot of).

Back in Kanda's room, he realised there was a problem. The child had received a little jacket from Lenalee the day they'd all gone to town but it was thin. He didn't have a proper coat to wear. _Oh, well, better than nothing_, Kanda thought as he helped the boy into the little black jacket.

He then donned his own coat.

"Can we go now?" Lavi asked eagerly.

"Sure, c'mon," Kanda held his hand out and Lavi took it and they left the room and made their way to the big doors which would take them outside into the dull grey afternoon.

"You sure you wanna play in this? You might really catch a cold, you know," Kanda said, looking outside with a displeased expression.

"Yup! Yup! Lavi play with papa!" and so, taking one of Kanda's hands in both his own, the child ran backwards into the rain – which had gotten considerably worse in the past few minutes – pulling his guardian along with him.

The two of them got wet instantly. Kanda didn't really care because he'd been stuck walking through more treacherous weather than this many times in the past. And Lavi appeared not to be bothered either as he hopped into big puddles that he saw, making quick work of wetting his shoes, socks, and pants. He'd have to get changed when they went inside.

But Kanda didn't have the heart to take Lavi back inside because the boy was having so much fun. "Papa, papa! Papa splash too!"

"No." Kanda replied. "I don't wanna get wetter than I am already."

Lavi pouted up at him. "Papa a thpoilthport."

"What the hell's a 'thpoilthport'? Since when do you have a lisp?"

The boy grinned cheekily. "Papa thaid thpoilthport! Papa thaid thpoilthport!"

Kanda rolled his eyes. "Am I thupposed to find that offensive?"

Lavi pointed at the man and giggled. "Papa thaid 'thupposed'!"

Realising his mistake, Kanda affected a look of rage. "Why, you little…! I'll get you for this!"

Still laughing, Lavi began to run as Kanda started after him. He caught up with the boy easily and, swooping down, he lifted him up. "It'll be a long time before you outrun me, kid." he said.

"Lavi outrun papa one day," Lavi said determinedly.

Kanda raised an eyebrow. "Really? We'll see about that."

Lavi grinned. "Yup." He wriggled around in Kanda's arm, which meant he wanted to get down so Kanda set him on his feet. He whizzed away. "Papa play?" he called back.

"What d'you wanna play?" Kanda asked, sounding weary. Why did he have to run around in this kind of weather? And he was feeling pretty lazy right now too.

"Tag!"

"Lemme guess; I'm it, right?"

Lavi nodded enthusiastically.

"And then what?"

He paused, looking thoughtful. He stood there for a few seconds, lost in thought. "And then papa hug!" he finally cried.

Kanda frowned. "Hmm? I catch you and _you_ get a hug? How's that work?"

Lavi lapsed into his thoughts again. He cupped his chin with his hand and tapped the side of his jaw with his index finger. Kanda wanted to laugh. _He's too cute_, he thought.

The redhead emerged out of his thoughts with another bright grin on his face. "Then…Lavi give papa hug?"

"Are you sure? Sounds like a pretty big prize to me."

Lavi nodded. "Yup! Then…Lavi go?"

"All right. Go."

Lavi took off. Kanda held back, waiting to give the boy a decent head start. He couldn't keep the smirk off his face as he watched the child run. It was like how ninjas ran, with his arms out behind him. He looked back to see if he was being chased and Kanda decided it was about as fair an advantage as he could give so he set off too, careful to keep his pace measured so he didn't catch up immediately. No sense in spoiling the boy's fun.

But, as the distance between them began to grow less, Lavi slipped on the wet grass and fell. Without meaning to, Kanda cried out, "Lavi!" He should have told him to stay on the pavement; he would have had a less chance of slipping then! But then if he'd slipped and fallen on the pavement, he'd have been hurt even worse!

He stopped in front of the child and knelt down. "Hey, are you okay?"

Lavi sat up. His features were scrunched up, ready to start bawling any second. But, for about a minute, he just sat there, staring at the wet grass that he'd fallen on. Just like yesterday when he'd fallen off the bed and hurt his knee.

"Lavi?" Kanda asked, reaching a hand out to the boy.

Lavi surprised him by looking up and breaking into a shaky smile. "L-Lavi…Lavi…okay!" he said in a strained voice.

Kanda sighed and pulled the child into an embrace. "What're you trying to be brave for? If it hurts, then tell me."

Lavi's small arms twined about the man's neck and he held on tight. "I-it…hurts…a little…but Lavi strong…Lavi no cry…"

For some reason, Kanda found that remarkably admirable. He patted the boy's soaking red hair. "You're getting strong, kid."

Lavi pulled back at gaze at Kanda with a wide eye. "R-really, papa?"

Kanda smiled. "Yeah."

Lavi hugged him again. "Thank you, papa."

Lavi's grip began to loosen after a while, but he didn't let go so Kanda didn't push him away. His knee was probably still hurting but he was trying to be courageous so Kanda could spoil him a little.

They stayed like that awhile, kneeling amid the rain, a picture of serenity. The soil under them was turning into mud and Kanda's pants below the knee and the edges of his coat were getting dirtied but he didn't mind. He felt peaceful, providing comfort for this little child in his arms. This could easily rival those times when he'd escaped to the roof in the old HQ to be alone in the rain.

"Papa?"

"Hmm?"

"Lavi need to use bathroom."

Kanda groaned and let the boy go. _Trust the kid to ruin the moment._ "All right, let's go inside then." He rose to his feet and reached for Lavi's hand.

"Papa?"

"Hmm?"

"Pick up?"

"All right."

Lavi settled against his shoulder as Kanda picked the boy up. "We come back outside?"

"No, I think we should get cleaned up now. How about another bath instead?"

"Yay! Really?!"

"Only if you listen when I tell you it's time to come out."

"Okay!"

* * *

Haha, Lavi always ruins the moment cuz he needs to use the bathroom XD

I read a review some time ago that said the fights between Allen and Kanda were too serious; lighten up! It's just for comic relief. I mean, I know I'm not that great at writing comedy and comedic situations often turn serious when it comes to me but, still, LIGHTEN UP, PLEASE! :(


	14. The Park

Hello, everybody!

For those who dislike MarieMiranda, avert your gaze for the starting scene! Muahahahahahahaha! Lol, sorry. But I think they make a good couple. And it's not too fluffy...I hope :\ I suck at writing romance, in any case.

* * *

Standing in the foyer of the Black Order HQ, Noise Marie took in all the familiar sounds. There was the sound of the chefs all the way in the kitchens, preparing food for the next meal of the day. There was the sound of everybody going about their daily business. And there was the sound of a pair of hurried footsteps coming towards him, stumbling at regular intervals because the person was forever clumsy.

Marie smiled as he heard the fast thumping of a heart behind those footsteps. His own limbs twitched in anticipation as he put down his travel case and prepared to greet the oncoming person.

"Marie!"

Marie laughed as the person stumbled and crashed into him. But, luckily, he was ready and didn't stumble. Not like she was very heavy anyway. "Hello, Miranda."

He couldn't see her but, as he put a hand up to caress her face, he could practically hear the blood rushing to her cheeks. "How are you?" he asked gently.

"I-I'm doing well, thank you. H-How are…y-you?" Miranda stammered, unable to move from where she'd crashed against his chest. He was holding her there and it wasn't like she had any complaints but what if someone came now?! Her already blushing face turned even redder.

"I'm good." Having a similar thought, Marie released her. "So, shall we go?" he asked, holding up a hand.

"Y-yes, let's." she agreed, demurely resting her hand in his.

"So, how are things?"

"As they have always been…since the war ended."  
"I see. And how is everybody? Have any of the other Generals visited?"

"No. Since everything ended, all those who left haven't come back."

"That's too bad. I wouldn't have minded meeting everybody."

"Yes." Miranda smiled, "But, even if it is the same people all the time, life never gets boring."

"Oh? And what happens?"

Miranda laughed once. "Recently, Lavi was turned into a child by one of Supervisor Komui's old experiments. It's going to last two weeks and Kanda has to look after him."

Marie's interest perked. "Oh?" a smile spread across his lips, "I'm sure the General would have loved to be here if he'd known."

"Yes." She chuckled.

"So, did you know I was coming in just now? You came pretty quickly."

"I saw you coming from the window." she mumbled.

"I see. It was a nice welcome." He smiled.

* * *

Lavi was sad. Lily's mommy had phoned and said they wouldn't be able to make it due to the bad weather. And he'd been looking forward to playing with Lily so much.

So, instead, he was getting acquainted with Noise Marie, who he'd taken to calling "uncle". Since papa and Uncle Marie had been students with the same master, didn't that make them like brothers? And papa's brother would be Lavi's uncle.

Uncle Marie was telling Lavi stories of his travels with Team Tiedoll. Now, he was telling about the Eiffel Tower. "…it's an amazing piece of work. Have you ever seen it before?"

Lavi shook his head. "What it like?"

"It's _big_. It's _very_ big."

"How big?"

"Hmm…let's see, if Kanda had a hundred clones and they all piled up on one another's shoulders, the Eiffel Tower would still be bigger by a large margin."

Lavi tried to contemplate this as he looked papa up and down. He tried to picture it; a hundred clones of papa forming a human tower of their own…it was hard…"A hundred of papa?"

Papa sighed and ruffled Lavi's hair. "Let's just say it's _huge_, all right? Don't strain yourself."

Lavi grinned, still trying to picture what Uncle Marie had said…but it was hard…hundred was a big number. "Bigger than a hundred papas; it's gotta be huge!"

"Oi, don't say it like that. It makes me feel offended, for some reason."

"Haha, sorry, papa! Uncle Marie, what else in France?!"

"Well, there's the Louvre where there's a bounty of amazing artwork…not that I can see it but…"

"But the General went to that place, no doubt," papa scoffed.

Uncle Marie chuckled. "Anyone would go to the Louvre if they're in Paris. And Master's an artist too."

"Right."

"What else, what else?!" Lavi asked eagerly.

Uncle Marie laughed again. "You're still your usual self, I see."

Lavi frowned. What did that mean…? "Huh?"

Papa spoke up, "Never mind."

Uncle Marie then went on to describe the atmosphere in Paris. Lavi was rapt. The afternoon turned into evening and then it was time for dinner. After that, Uncle Marie and Aunty Miranda went off somewhere to be alone so papa went back to his room with Lavi following closely behind.

"Papa?"

"Hmm?"

"What papa do now?"

"I'm going to bed." Papa grumbled as he went over to the bed and sat down. Lavi followed after him and, with a little difficulty, he clambered up to sit beside the man.

"But it early!" he said.

Papa grunted an incoherent response and he shifted back and lay down. Lavi knelt beside him, looking down at him with a puzzled frown. "Papa tired already?"

"Yeah, it's been a long day."

Fiddling with his hands, Lavi wondered what he was supposed to do now. He wanted to play with papa, like they had in the rain that afternoon, but they couldn't go outside. He could try colouring, but he liked it when papa looked at the pictures he drew and commented on them.

_Maybe Lavi sleep too?_ He thought. He squiggled over to the edge of the bed and removed his shoes and then laid himself down beside papa.

"You're going to sleep too?" papa asked, lifting a hand up to brush Lavi's hair away from his face. "I thought you said it's early."

"Lavi not do anything if papa sleeping so Lavi sleep too," Lavi mumbled.

Papa shrugged. "If you say so."

* * *

"Hey, Kanda?" Lenalee asked as soon as Kanda put down his breakfast and helped Lavi onto the bench.

"Hmm?"

"Morgan asked if it'd be all right for Lavi to come over?"

Kanda frowned as he set himself down next to his charge. "Who the hell is Morgan?"

Lenalee sighed. "She's Lily's mother. She said Lily was down yesterday since she'd been looking forward to coming over to play again. So Morgan wants to take them to the park."

"Ooh, park! Lavi go, papa?!" Lavi asked excitedly.

Kanda groaned. "Fine. Why don't you go with Lenalee?"

Lavi's green eye was pleading. "No, papa come too! Papa, pwease? Pwetty pwease?"

"Oi, I know you don't usually talk like that so drop it; it makes me sick."

Lavi pouted. "Please papa?"

Being subjected to such an innocent, beseeching gaze, Kanda couldn't refuse. His shoulders slumped. "Fine."

"Yay!"

Allen, Krory and Marie were conferring among themselves. "That was quick," Marie mumbled.

"Yeah, I think each time Lavi asks for something, the time it takes Kanda to agree gets less and less." Krory agreed.

"It's almost like he's under some kind of weird hypnosis." Allen mused.

"Oi! I can hear you, you know! Shut the fuck up!" Kanda snapped.

"Sorry," Krory was the only one who apologised. Marie hid an amused smile. Miranda sighed. Allen grunted, stuffing his face full of food.

Lenalee beamed. "All right then! It's decided! I'll be coming too, of course!"

"If Lenalee's going, I'm going too!" Allen said, raising a hand.

"Put your freakin hand down; this isn't a classroom, bean sprout!" Kanda spat, just to vent some of his annoyance.

Lenalee interrupted before Allen could retort. "And what about the rest of you? Why not turn it into a picnic? We could ask Jerry to prepare the food and then we'll be ready to go by about eleven?"

Marie shrugged. "Sounds okay to me."

Miranda blushed, "then, I guess I'll come too."

"No use wandering around here by myself so I'll be coming too." Krory said.

Kanda heaved a defeated sigh as happy chatter broke out across the group.

* * *

"Oh, is this Lily? What a cute girl!" Allen said as he fell to one knee before the little girl. "Hi there."

Kanda looked down as Lavi walked over to stand beside his little friend. "Lily-Ann to anyone who not a close friend," he said with a huff as he took Lily's free hand in his own. Lily looked confused.

Allen blinked owlishly. "Whoa…did you just get jealous, Lavi?"

"Lavi did not!"

"Did too!"

"Did not, stupid bean sprout!"

Morgan, Lily's mother, chuckled and, letting go of her daughter's hand, she turned towards Lenalee, "he's picking up Master Kanda's bad habits."

Lenalee masked a laugh as a cough as Kanda glanced over. "Don't say that when he's right there," she whispered.

Morgan grinned. "I'll bear that in mind then. But, I can't believe the Supervisor's still doing things like that, though."

"Oh, he's not…well, he might be. Don't know what brother gets up to, as always. But this was an old experiment. Brother just made the two of them clean out an old storeroom."

"I'll bet Master Kanda wasn't too happy about that!"

Lenalee laughed again. Kanda's narrow-eyed gaze found hers and she immediately straightened her expression. "Still, I think it's come to the point where he won't complain about anything as long Lavi's there too."

"Aw, that's so sweet! But I don't think Master Kanda was ever one to complain anyway, no?"

"I suppose you're right. Even if he does have any problems, he keeps them to himself."

Sneaking a furtive glance at Kanda, Morgan said, "but…he seems a lot less tense then he used to be."

Lenalee smiled. "It's all thanks to Lavi."

"Oi," Kanda growled. Lenalee and Morgan both jumped but he was looking at Allen and Lavi, "have you children finished your argument? I think we should get going."

Allen stood up with an indignant huff. "Whatever, Kanda."

Lavi grinned. "Lavi won the argument!"

"No you didn't!" Allen disagreed.

"All right, all right! It doesn't matter!" Lenalee called out. "Let's just get moving, okay?"

Still holding onto Lily's hand, Lavi walked over to Kanda and fell into step. Glancing down at the two children, Kanda felt a small smile tugging at his lips. Lavi was, as always, ridiculously cute.

The group was split into pairs. Lavi was talking to Lily. Lenalee was chatting with Morgan. Allen and Krory were discussing some trivial matter (something about food…maybe it hadn't been the best idea to leave the picnic basket in Allen's hands). And, bringing up the rear were Marie and Miranda, lost in a world of their own. Kanda was on his own. Not that he cared, but he did catch himself wishing that that little girl would go to her mother or something. _How bothersome_, he scoffed under his breath, stuffing his hands into the pockets of his coat.

The feeling of being distanced increased as they got to the park. Lavi and Lily went to the jungle gym and climbed up. But, after a few minutes, they saw that Lenalee and Morgan we sitting on the swings.

"Lenalee, Lavi and Lily wanna go too!" Lavi cried as he ran up to them, dragging Lily behind him.

Lenalee smiled and stood up. "Sure, shall I push you?"

"Yeah!"

Noon came and went. The children weren't getting bored in the least. Marie had gone around the fields for a walk with Miranda. Allen and Krory were hungry and kept sneaking food out of the picnic basket as they also walked around. Lenalee and Morgan watched the two children and talked. How women could talk so much was beyond Kanda.

He sat at the park bench, just looking around and observing people. He didn't usually pay attention to random people because he didn't care what they were doing but, for the moment, it helped alleviate some of his boredom as he waited for the outing to come to an end. This was why he'd not wanted to come! He was always bored when the group went anywhere and the one person who Kanda didn't mind talking with was always chatting to the others. Although Lavi _was_ considerate enough to try to get Kanda to join in the group discussions, Kanda didn't see any point in it. As was always the case, he just wanted to go back home and go to his room.

A while later, he heard his name being called out…well, not really his name…more like his temporary title, "Papa, papa!"

He looked away from the crowd of people milling about outside the park grounds and saw Lavi running towards him. "What is it?"

"Time to eat!" the little boy said, taking the man's hand and attempting to pull him up. Kanda sighed and stood up. _About time_, he thought. "All right."

"Papa, did papa watch Lavi?! Lavi went really high on the swing! It was amazing!"

"Er…yeah…"

They caught up with Lenalee, Morgan, Lily, Allen and Krory and the group then went to find a good place to set up the picnic. As Allen put down the picnic basket and dug out the sheet, Marie and Miranda came back too. And then they started to take out the food…

"What is this?! Allen! Only half the food's here!" Lenalee protested, looking into the basket's contents.

Allen chuckled sheepishly and looked away. "S-sorry, Krory and I got hungry and…"

"Y-yeah, we're sorry…" Krory stammered.

"I can't believe you! Couldn't you wait?!" Lenalee cried.

"I'm sorry…"

"There's still a lot of food here." Miranda said, also taking a look inside the basket. "Perhaps Jerry knew Allen and Krory would eat most of it?" She chuckled.

Kanda scoffed. "Gluttons."

Sitting in Kanda's lap, Lavi was the only one who heard the man's utterance. "Haha, gluttons! Bean sprout and Krory gluttons!"

Krory found this amusing. But Allen, rather than glaring at the offending child, gazed balefully at Kanda instead. "What?" Kanda challenged.

"You're a bad influence."

"I don't know what you're talkin about."

"Hmph! Stupid Kanda."

"Is that all you ever say, stupid bean sprout?"

Lavi giggled. "Stupid bean sprout!"

Allen groaned. "Will you stop teaching him stuff like that?!"

"I'm not teaching him anything. It's not my fault if he picks things up."

"Then you ought to watch what you say around him!"

"Why should I? It's not like he's never heard it before."

Allen was at a loss as to what to say; Kanda's insensitivity was just astonishing. In the end, he just growled before digging into the food he'd piled onto his plate. Everyone heaved a collective sigh. Would these two never give it a rest?

But Kanda was thinking. What if Lavi _did_ start picking up his bag habits? What would Kanda do if Lavi swore?

As if on cue, Lavi swore as he knocked over a bowl full of food, "Oh…fuck…"

Six pairs of eyes (including Marie's empty gaze) stared first at Lavi and then travelled over to rest on Kanda. Kanda cleared his throat and resumed his meal as calmly as he could. But, on the inside, his thoughts were raging out of control. _WHAT SHOULD I DO?! WHY DID HE HAVE TO SAY THAT?! AND WAS HE READING MY MIND OR SOMETHING THAT HE CHOSE TO SWEAR AT THAT EXACT MOMENT?! I'M BEING STARED AT AS IF I COMMITED A FELONY!_

Predictably, it was Allen who spoke first. "See what I mean? This is all your fault, Kanda."  
Lavi and Lily looked confused as they glanced around at the faces of the adults. Lavi spoke, "did Lavi say something bad?"

Lenalee chuckled nervously. "W-well, you see, Lavi, that word is not a very nice one and…"

He frowned and pointed a tiny finger at Kanda. "But papa says it all the time."

"Ah, well…grownups are different, see, and…"

Allen interrupted with a matter-of-fact tone, "Well, grownups should know what to say and what not to say in the presence of others…but, this just doesn't seem to be comprehended by people sporting dark, long hair and who go by the name of Ka…"

A pair of chopsticks flew through the air with deadly accuracy and lodged into Allen's forehead. "Shut the fuck up." Kanda hissed.

Allen fell back. "I am…slain…"

Lavi giggled and pointed at the white-haired boy. "Haha, Polonius! Look, Lily, he's Polonius!"

"Who?" Krory asked.

"A character in 'Hamlet'," Morgan supplied, "he gets killed by Hamlet and says "I am slain"."

"Oh, I see." several people nodded. Kanda was confused. "What the hell is _Hamlet_?"

Now everyone turned to look at him incredulously, including the revived Allen (with chopsticks sticking out of his forehead). "You don't know what Hamlet is?" he asked.

Kanda shook his head. Even Lavi was looking at him in astonishment. "Wh-what? It's not like I have time for…for whatever the hell that is."

Allen snickered. "You really are dumb."

"Say that again and I'll make sure you die, bitch!"

"What part of me looks like a female dog to you?!"

"Your face. That must be it; I always get so pissed off lookin at it!"

"Then don't look at it, stupid Kanda!"

"Can't help it, can I, bean sprout? You're always sticking your mug in everywhere!"

"Break it up, you two!" Lenalee called out. "When are you going to grow up? You're not children anymore!"

Kanda harrumphed and resumed his meal (after getting another pair of chopsticks since his previous ones were still stuck in Allen's forehead). Allen grumbled something unintelligible and finally pulled out the chopsticks and continued his own meal.

Lavi giggled as he turned to face Lily. "Papa and bean sprout a hoot!"

* * *

Um...while writing this chapter...and the start of the next one, I was feeling a little on high (probably from _lack_ of sugar, though I dunno how that'd work O_O) so...yeah...eh heh heh...I hope it wasn't _too_ crackish.

So, next chapter sees the return of the actual Lavi. Including next chapter, there's only two left before this story finishes. I was going to do a Part II but, realistically, it'd have been over in just one or two chapters so I didn't see the point in it. I had quite a few endings in mind too but, lately, I've been feeling really lazy and, on top of that, it just seemed to me that an epilogue was unnecessary. Haha, one time, I wrote an epilogue for this other story where it was set a good few years in the future after the plot had cleared up. It was complete bullshit and a waste of space :| lol, I suck at writing epilogues XXD

Anyway, I hope you liked this. I realise the picnic scene could have been more in-depth but...I was feeling lazy XD same for the last chapter's bath scene, sorry, Demoness Drakon :(

Ah, that reminds me, thanks for your reviews, guys! It means a great deal to know that people are actually enjoying this story ^_^

Peace out~!


	15. Gifts

I have a bad case of writer's block. DAMMIT!!! Y'all should be glad I got this story finished a while back XXD actually, originally, I was gonna finish it and then put it up cuz...well, there's more of a guarantee that I won't just abandon the story while half of it's been put up, right? But I suppose this is okay too...though I don't often finish the ideas I come up with so I hope this is a one-off :(

Anyway, enjoy and I'm glad you guys are finding this entertaining and not a total waste of time!

Oh, yeah, I just wanted to say; I really hope Kanda _does_ know what Hamlet is. If he doesn't...O___O the hell...? Lol

Oh, and there's some cracky bits in this...but I suppose there's bits like that in every fanfic :D

* * *

"Why didn't you tell him yourself?" Lenalee asked.

Morgan chuckled uneasily, looking a little embarrassed. "Well…I don't know…he just…doesn't seem that approachable…so, ask him, okay?"

Lenalee rolled her eyes with a shake of the head. "All right. I'll ask, though it is short notice."

The ex-Finder laughed again. "Yeah, sorry. And, of course, you and Master Walker are to come too."

"Don't call him Master Walker. That's so formal!"

"Sorry, force of habit."

Morgan and Lily were about to depart the Black Order building. The ex-Finder had been bringing her daughter around every day for the last three days so Lily could play with Lavi (since Morgan really doubted Kanda would agree to coming over to their house or going to the park on a daily basis).

"Well, we'll be going then." Morgan said.

"Yeah." Lenalee smiled. She bent down to look at Lily. "Bye, Lily."

"Bye, Lenalee," the little girl mumbled timidly.

"BYE, LILY!" Lavi yelled.

"Oi, what're you shouting for? She's right there." Kanda grumbled, standing as far away from the group as he could without actually stepping out of the foyer. What was this stupid farewell thing? Why did they all have to come and see the little girl and her mother off? It wasn't like Kanda cared so why did he have to be here?

Right, because of Lavi. Lavi and Lily seemed to salvage every moment they had together, from the moment the little girl stepped foot in the building right up to when she left. They also had a penchant for holding one another's hands the entire time they were together. Well, more like Lavi established authority in that manner by taking her hand first, and Lily always followed him around without any complaint.

Morgan and Lily left. Lavi was glum and stalked off after Kanda. "Ah, hey, wait!" Lenalee called out.

Kanda turned back. "What?"

Lenalee came to stop beside him. "It's Lily's birthday the day after tomorrow. Morgan wants Lavi to come, since it'd mean a lot to Lily."

"No." Kanda said.

"Too fast! Think about it, Kanda." Lenalee protested.

Kanda shrugged. "I don't care. I'm not going."

"But papa!" Lavi cried. "We go! It Lily's _birthday_!"

Kanda sighed. "You're going too, aren't you?" he asked Lenalee. She nodded. "Good, then take Lavi with you."

"But papa has to come too!" Lavi insisted, looking up at his guardian earnestly. His green eye was beseeching.

Kanda could feel his resolve weakening. He stared down at Lavi for a long while before he turned and strode away. "Whatever."

"So you'll come?!" Lenalee called out, beaming.

"I said whatever." he grunted.

"Yay!" Lavi cried, running towards his guardian and clinging onto his leg.

"O-oi! I can't walk! Lavi!"

It was later, during their evening meal, when Lavi broached the subject of gifts. "Hey, papa?"

"Hmm?"

"Lavi get Lily a gift?"

"It's not necessary, is it?"  
"But…don't friends give gifts?"

_I never have_, Kanda thought.

There had been one time when Lavi had given him a gift.

_Kanda looked at the item on his palm. It was round and filled with water and there was glitter sitting at the bottom. And, standing up in the middle, wedged in between two panes of glass, was a picture of Kanda and Lavi. Kanda didn't look too happy in it, but Lavi was beaming. "What…is this?" he asked, looking up at the redhead with a frown._

_Lavi grinned. "It's a snow globe, Yu!"_

"_What's it for?"_

"_It's a gift, of course!"_

_Kanda's frown only deepened. "But…it's useless."_

_Lavi heaved a heavy sigh. "It's not supposed to be useful. You just put it on display."_

_Kanda stared between the snow globe and the giver for a second more before turning around and pitching the item towards a nearby bin. He dusted his hands off as he turned back to face Lavi._

_But the redhead looked like he was in shock. "Y-Yu?! What'd you do that for?!" he protested._

_Kanda shrugged, "isn't that what you usually do with things which have no use?" _

"_No! No you don't! It was a gift! I can't believe you, Yu!" Lavi looked glum. "I won't ever talk to you again! You're so mean!"_

_Kanda watched as the redhead stalked off. What was the big deal? He didn't have the space to store such junk. But he did feel a little bad so he went to retrieve the "gift". Good thing the bin was empty._

Lavi had avoided speaking to him for a whole _day_…which was a big achievement for the stupid rabbit, because the last time he'd said he'd never speak to Kanda again, he'd lasted less than an hour.

"I don't see the point in them," Kanda shrugged, coming back to the present.

"But papa! It polite cuz they invite us!" little Lavi protested.

Allen cleared his throat. "The boy has more manners than you do, Kanda."

"Shut the fuck up, bean sprout."

"Don't toss words like that around so casually. I've heard him use it about ten times now! You really are a bad influence!"

"I said shut up."

"Or what?"

"You really want to know?"

"Enlighten me, please." Allen snorted.

A pair of chopsticks went flying through the air and lodged in his forehead. This seemed to have become Kanda's new weapon. "THIS KILLS! WHAT'RE YOU DOING?!"

Kanda shrugged. "You said you wanted to know."

Lavi giggled. "Hey, hey, bean sprout, say the "I am slain" line again!"

"No! I'm not dead!" Allen protested, pulling the chopsticks out and wiping away the ensuing blood. "Disgusting. You put these things in your mouth! Gross!"

"Tch, what's gross is that I have to watch you stuff your face every day." Kanda grumbled.

"No one told you to sit opposite me!"

"The kid's the one who always picks the seats, not me."

"Oh, so you can't refuse?"

"It's not about 'can' and 'can't'; if he wants to sit here then he can…whether there's a stupid bean sprout sitting across or not."

"Shut up!"

"Will you guys give it a rest?" Marie grumbled. "It's already hard enough to have a meal in peace when you have hearing like mine."

"S-sorry, Marie." Allen said.

Kanda merely grunted.

"So, papa, we get gift for Lily?!" Lavi asked again.

Kanda groaned. "Fine. Whatever."

"Yes! Lavi win!"

"…Tch…"

So, the next day, after breakfast, they went to town. Marie and Miranda came along, as did Lenalee. Since Allen wasn't going, Komui seemed content to wave the group off from the entrance of the building.

Lenalee sighed as they stepped outside the range of Komui's view. "Brother's going to bully Allen again. I can feel it."

Miranda chuckled somewhat nervously. "Don't worry. I'm sure he'll be fine."

"At least Krory's there," Marie added.

"Hey, papa?" Lavi said, tugging on Kanda's hand.

"What?"

"What if something happens to the bean sprout?"

"Then serves him right." Kanda scoffed.

"Hey, don't say things like that!" Lenalee protested.

Marie laughed. "Kanda was only joking…right?"

"Yeah!" Lavi answered in his guardian's stead.

"Oi, don't answer for me."

"But papa such a grouch!"

Lenalee, Miranda and Marie laughed. Kanda growled down at the little boy. "Say that again and we're goin back home right now."

"I'm sorry, papa," Lavi said, not looking in the least repentant.

"Tch…annoying brat."

Choosing the gift was easy. Both Lenalee and Lavi agreed that a big doll with a pretty pink frock was perfect. Looking at the price, Kanda wasn't too happy. _He's going to pay me back, I will _make_ him pay me back for this_, he vowed.

After that, they loitered about town. Lavi wanted to go to the ice cream parlour they'd gone to the last time when it had been just him and Kanda. He ordered a parfait and left it half eaten. Kanda was not happy. _I will definitely make him repay all this_, he vowed once again.

But he didn't mind indulging the little child. Lavi had not gotten that many sweet things to eat these past two weeks, and he was very keen on sweet foods.

These sorts of sympathetic thoughts came to a halt when Lavi knocked the glass over and sent half-melted parfait dripping over the edge of the table and onto Kanda's lap. "Ooh, fuck."

"FUCK!" was Kanda's first word as he felt the cold wetness seeping through his pants. "And stop saying that! How many times do I have to tell you not to say that?!" he snapped, taking a napkin and attempting to wipe away the mess. But it wouldn't come off so easily.

Lavi pouted. "B-but papa said it just now."

"That's me! I can't help it! But you're a kid so you should watch what you say!"

Marie, Miranda, and Lenalee tutted. "That's hypocritical, Kanda."

"Like I give a fuck! I'm going to the bathroom!"

"Lavi come too!"

* * *

At two in the afternoon, the next day, the four people who had been invited to come to the party gathered at the front entrance. Lavi was struggling over the present he'd gotten for Lily, because it was almost as big as he was. Kanda had offered to hold it but Lavi insisted that he'd carry it.

Komui had come to see them off. He came to whisper something in Kanda's ear. "Make sure he doesn't do anything, ok? If he does, alert me and I'll have set up the best torture chamber you have ever seen."

Kanda looked bored. "Tch…as tempting as that is, I don't think he'll do anything." As much as he hated the bean sprout, Allen made Lenalee happy so Kanda didn't really have anything against their relationship…well, not that it was any of his business but he'd be kidding himself if he said he didn't care; Lenalee was an irreplaceable friend, almost like a little sister, and if the bean sprout ever did anything to hurt her, Kanda would personally make it his mission to kill the boy. Not that he'd ever tell anyone that though.

"Make sure he doesn't. My sweet Lenalee doesn't need anybody like that," Komui said in a little voice as he walked away. "Have fun and be home before dark, ok, Lenalee?"

_Will he ever get rid of that sister complex?_ Kanda wondered. _It's annoying._ People grew up and lived their own separate lives; there was no helping it. Komui was a scientist; shouldn't he be able to grasp the nature of living things? How pathetic.

Lenalee sighed. "We'll be back in a few hours, brother. We'll see you later." They made to walk out of the huge entrance door but Komui zoomed back.

"Kanda, you stand between Allen and Lenalee, okay?" he smiled a fake smile as he attempted to nudge Allen away from Lenalee and push Kanda between the two.

"Will you shut up?! You're annoying me!" Kanda snapped. Lavi tried to unsuccessfully stifle a giggle.

Komui reluctantly backed off, with tears streaming down his face, and watched as the group of four left. "H-have fun, then, all of you…"

"Komui's going to kill me one of these days," Allen whined as the door closed behind them.

Lenalee's nervous laugh did nothing to help the gloomy atmosphere. "W-well…maybe he'll get used to the idea…eventually…?"

"Are you suggesting we tell him?! No way!"

"Tell him! Tell him!" Lavi cheered.

"Stop cheering! That basically means you want me to die, right?!" the white-haired boy cried.

Kanda smirked. "Perhaps it'd be for the best."  
"That's so rude! Nobody asked you anyway!"

Lavi mock-glared up at Allen, "don't shout at papa."

"Eh?! Before you tell me off, maybe you ought to tell "papa" off. He's the one who says inappropriate things."

Kanda sighed. It would be a long afternoon…

When they arrived at the right address, they saw that there weren't many guests…in fact, the only ones there already were Lily's old grandmother (dad's mother), a middle-aged uncle (also from dad's side) who looked like he wanted to go to sleep, a thin man with neat black hair who wore spectacles and a suit who was apparently "dad", Morgan, and Lily herself. "Well, we tried to keep it fairly small," Morgan explained as she introduced everyone.

There were various games to play, like pass the parcel and musical chairs. Kanda gruffly declined the offer to join in, much to Lavi's displeasure. After the games, it was time to give the presents. Lavi wanted to go first, since he was so eager.

"Lavi got this with papa," he grinned as he lugged the gift after himself, "we hope Lily likes it."

But, just as he handed the gift over, there was a poof of smoke. Kanda frowned. What the hell was that?!

Realisation only struck when he caught Lenalee looking at him and mouthing the words "two weeks". How long had it been?! _Shit! Two weeks already?! _He thought. Two weeks ago, at around four – the same time as now – Kanda and Lavi had been cleaning out the old research department room. Kanda only remembered the time because he'd been thinking very eagerly about what he'd have for tea when Komui had come up to him and Lavi. It had been exactly two weeks.

The whole transformation would only last something like half a minute to a full sixty seconds! And the clothes that Lavi was wearing now would be in tatters because he was growing out of them. Kanda had to save his friend's dignity.

"Oi, Finder woman, get everybody out of this room," he ordered as he grabbed a small folded blanket on the nearby sofa and headed towards the rapidly decreasing cloud of smoke.

"Y-yes," Morgan stammered. "Everyone, if you'd all just follow me…"

"What's going on?" Morgan's husband asked.

"I'll explain later! Come on."

Lily's uncle was a little more awake now but he got up to go after his brother as the bespectacled man left the room, supporting their mother's weight as the old lady also hobbled out. Lenalee picked Lily up and left the room too, with Allen on her heels. It was a rather speedy evacuation.

The last of the smoke cleared just as the door closed. Kanda felt rather odd as he gazed down at his friend's normal self. "Yo, been a while." He greeted, throwing down the blanket and turning away.

Lavi looked a little disoriented. "P-Pa…I-I mean, Yu! I'm…back…"

"Just cover yourself up."

"A-ah, right. Man, this is kinda embarrassing, eh? I just crashed the party." Lavi said as he fixed the small blanket around his waist. "I'm done."

Kanda turned back around. "You look stupid." Indeed, the floral pink blanket was not a good touch…but it was either that or revealing his man parts for the world to see. At least the eye patch he'd been wearing before could stretch to accommodate the sudden growth of his skull, although the elastic was taut and would probably snap if it had to stretch anymore.

Lavi laughed feebly, "Y-yeah…but, man, I got so much to talk about! You won't believe it! It was incredible looking out through the mind of a child!"

Kanda balked. _He…he…remembers…it all?_ He thought with dread. "Wh-what happened to the real you…while you were in there?"

"Well…I don't know how to explain it…it's just…I _did_ get turned into a kid, mind and body, but…at the back of my mind, a small part of me remained the same, you know? You should try it sometimes, Yu; it was amazing! Everything was so simple yet…ah, man! Maybe it's just cuz I'm awesome but that mind was absolutely brilliant!"

Kanda gave the redhead a blank stare. As glad as he was to see his friend back to normal, he also felt a little glum. And, if he stayed, his moroseness would show and he didn't need Lavi asking about that. "I'm going home."

"Eh?" Lavi frowned. "Why? Wait and we'll all go back. It'd be pretty weird for me to stay here now."

Kanda walked to the door. "Take your time." he said without looking back. He opened the door and stepped out.

Out in the hallway, Lenalee saw him emerge. "Eh? Kanda, is Lavi okay…?"

Kanda made no response as he brushed past her and strode towards the front door. She frowned. "Kanda…?" The door shut. Frowning, she entered the room he'd come out of.

She saw Lavi standing there, with only a pink blanket around his waist. He looked silly but she didn't say anything on it…although she did feel a little awkward standing in a room with a practically naked guy. "H-hi, Lavi."

"Yo, Lenalee," Lavi greeted.

"I don't suppose I've anything to worry about? I mean, you didn't actually suffer from anything…"

He smiled. "Nothing to worry about at all. Hey, would it be too much trouble to ask for a pair of clothes? I'm really sorry to inconvenience everyone like this."

"It's no problem. I'll go ask Morgan."

"Thanks.

* * *

I love the scene with the parfait; it's probably the best in the entire story XXD kufufufu...(where'd the Mukuro laugh come from? O.o...I think I'm a little high on sleep deprivation at the moment...sincerest apologies, people)

And yeah, like I said; a little cracky, especially the useless flashback about the gift...it was kinda ghey and completely pointless O_O but I hope you enjoyed it anyway! Last chapter should be up by Friday! Thanks for reading!


	16. Longings and Vows

And the final chapter has arrived, people! Unfortunately, as I said a while back, there's no epilogue. But this chapter's way longer than the usual; I think there's almost twice as much so no complaints, right? :D aaaaaaaaaaaand, there's a useless omake at the end so enjoy XD

* * *

"Ugh, I can finally take these off." Lavi grumbled as the trio stepped into the Black Order HQ. He looked down at his attire with a sour expression. He'd had to borrow one of Morgan's husband's outfits and Lavi felt it didn't suit him at all. He'd asked for the most informal clothes and had been given a pair of black trousers and a crisp white shirt and, because it had been cold, he'd also been given a matching black suit jacket to wear.

And because he'd needed footwear too, he'd been given a pair of shiny black loafers. Morgan's husband was very close to Lavi in physique so everything fit perfectly. But…they called this informal?! He looked like a freaking businessman! Well, at least there wasn't a tie to go with it!

But, they'd arrived home now so he could get dressed in his own clothes. "I'll join you guys in a bit." he said as he turned away from Allen and Lenalee.

"Ok, we'll see you later." Allen called out.

Lavi went to his room. _Ah, feels good to be back here_, he thought, taking in the familiar clutter. But dust had gathered on most of the surfaces so he'd have to clean up. But, that was a job for later. He found himself an eye patch which wasn't digging into his skin and then got changed into more comfortable clothes and shoes. He folded up the things he'd borrowed and put them to the side. He'd have to wash and return them soon.

Thinking of Lily and her family, he sighed. He'd imagine it had been a bit of a shock for the little girl to discover that her little friend had suddenly disappeared and his big brother (the story which had been agreed upon) had come in his stead, saying that the child would never come back. She'd been crying when Lavi had felt. He felt so guilty; Lily was more than just a random brat off the streets. He knew her. He'd held her hand in his own. He'd played with her. He'd made her smile. And he'd felt so sorry for her; she was such a good little kid but she had never been given half a chance.

_Well, I can still go visit her, right?_ He thought as he stood up and walked to the door.

He put the matter of Lily to the side as he headed up to Kanda's room. Kanda had been pretty aloof since Lavi had returned back to normal. Just before that, he'd been how he'd normally been towards little Lavi. So, what had suddenly changed?

Well, that was obvious but Lavi wouldn't have thought that his transformation from being a child to being an adult would affect Kanda at all. At first, in that small part of his mind which had maintained the thought process of an adult, he'd believed his grumpy best friend would be glad to have Lavi back to his usual self but then Kanda had slowly started to become more and more familiar with the kid.

_So he'd rather have little me around than…the actual me?_ Lavi thought glumly.

He knocked on Kanda's door. "Pa…Yu?" Why did he keep doing that? Every time he wanted to call out to Kanda, the first thing which came to his lips was "papa" instead of "Yu". Well, he'd gotten pretty used to his kid self calling Kanda that so he supposed it'd wear off after a while. But it was so odd calling his best friend "papa"!

"Yu?" he called out again, knocking on the door a little harder.

"What?" a groan came from inside.

"Oh, so you are here!" Lavi exclaimed as he pushed the door open and went in.

Kanda rose from the bed, where he'd been lying down. He glared. "Don't just come in without being invited, bastard."

Lavi made a sad face as he went and flopped down at the foot of the bed. "Why so hostile, Yu? Makes me think you're not happy to see me after two weeks."

Kanda stared at him with a blank expression before letting his head fall to his pillow. "Whatever."

Lavi stared down at the other man. "What's up with you?"

"Nothing."

"Really? Doesn't seem like nothing."

"Drop it."

"But if there's something wrong with you, then I want to know what it is." Lavi insisted, removing his shoes. He pulled his legs up and shifted around so that he was looking down at Kanda. "Hey, sit up; I don't want to have to smell your feet."

"Shut the fuck up. No one told you to sit there."

"But I _am_ sitting here so please move your feet."

"Ugh. Just shut up." Although he said that, Kanda sat up anyway. He sat crossed-legged with his back against the headboard and glared across at Lavi.

"What're you glaring at me for?" Lavi asked.

Kanda looked away and harrumphed. "None of your business."

"If it's got something to do with me then, yes, it is my business."

"Well, it's got nothing to do with you."

Lavi tutted. "I know you have random mood swings, Yu, but even this isn't like you. Why don't you tell me what's up? You seem depressed…and you were all right up until I changed back."

Kanda was silent. Lavi couldn't read his expression, which was often the case with Kanda. By default, the only emotions Kanda displayed were negative ones but, when something was really troubling him, his expression became so empty. Lavi knew it was a habit Kanda had developed since he'd been a kid but it bothered the redhead a lot; he could read almost every person in the Black Order HQ except Kanda, his best friend.

"It's…just forget it," Kanda mumbled after a few long seconds.

"Why don't you tell me? I wanna know."

"I said forget it."  
"Damn, you're always so stubborn!" Lavi grumbled. But he brightened up. If Kanda didn't want to share, he didn't have to. But Lavi wanted to at least get him out of this sour mood. "So, wanna go for a walk? There's still time till dinner."

Kanda shrugged. "If you want."

_That was easy_, the redhead thought. Usually, it took a bit of time to convince Kanda to do anything. But maybe kid Lavi had weakened the man's defences. Lavi smiled as he stood up. "All right then, c'mon."

They went outside. Kanda stuffed his hands into the pockets of his coat, trying to hide his embarrassment as Lavi talked about how he'd seen everything as a child.

"And you know, that first time, after the smoke cleared, it took me a while to figure out what was going on. And, suddenly, a part of me's thinking "it's papa!" and then I sorta ran to you, right? Forget the look on your face that time, _I_ was freaked out, man!" he rambled. "And, after that, as the days went on…it was like, the attachment I had to you deepened…but mellowed out a little too, if that makes sense, as I got to know Lenalee and the others. I think I trusted Lenalee the most after you. But there was that time after the first bath – thanks for that, by the way; you don't know how _weird_ it is to be given a bath by a friend – yeah, anyway, after that bath, when you left me with Lenalee, my mind was completely clouded. I missed you so much and I felt guilt for making you angry or whatever but I was also a little upset that you'd just dumped me there without a care. It was freakin overwhelming! Poor Lenalee; she tried so hard to get me to calm down! If only the part of me which had been able to see all this had been in control! And then when we first met Lily and…"

And on and on it went. The sky began to grow darker. Lavi talked for three quarters of an hour straight. Kanda figured he was making up for the last two weeks.

"Ah, we ought to go inside, eh?" Lavi said, looking towards the horizon at the fading golden sunset.

"There's an idea." Kanda snorted.

"Haha, love the sarcasm, Yu! Anyway, they're probably serving dinner now. I'm hungry."

So they began to walk back. Kanda was still embarrassed. Lavi really did remember _everything_.

"Ah, just remembered, there was this one time when I was going to ask about the Lotus."

Kanda sighed. "Why'd you bring that thing up?"

Lavi smiled. "That time, I think it was when you gave me away to Allen – shame on you – and then you wanted to go to sleep after that…I was going to ask you but then _I_ went to sleep too so it slipped my mind. What would you have said if I'd asked?"

Kanda didn't reply.

Lavi chuckled. "You never do talk about it…you know I said you should get the research dudes to have a look at it and maybe they'll come up with a way to lift the curse?"

"I don't want to talk about this, Lavi." Kanda muttered.

Lavi stared at Kanda for a good long while, his expression suddenly not so jolly. "Why don't you try something, Yu?"

"There's no helping it. Leave it be."

"But, Yu…"

"I said leave it!" Kanda snapped, suddenly angry. He increased his pace and stalked off towards the entrance of the building.

Lavi clicked his tongue. _Same as always,_ he thought. _I wish there was something I could do to help you, Yu. I don't want you to die_.

Kanda was fast. By the time Lavi arrived at the dining hall, his friend was already getting his food. Lavi hurried up to him and spotted Jerry behind the hatch. "Hi, Jerry!" he greeted.

"Oh, Lavi! Long time no see~!" the head chef responded.

"Haha, yeah it has been a while, eh? And as much as I love your soba, I think I'll go with a more normal dish today!"

Kanda narrowed his eyes as he gazed at the redhead. "What're you trying to say?"

Lavi chuckled nervously. "N-nothing at all! Soba's great, but it's not my thing."  
"Hmph."

After they got their food, Kanda was going to go off and sit by himself but Lavi steered him over to where the others sat. "Hi, guys!" he greeted, putting his hand up to salute Miranda, Krory and Marie, the ones he'd not seen since he'd returned to normal.

"Oh, look, it's the Golden Pair." Allen snorted.

Kanda made no response as he sat down and began his meal. Lavi was still busy with greetings as he sat down beside Kanda. "Marie, good to see you again too!"

Marie smiled. "Likewise, Lavi. Good to have you back, I suppose?"

The redhead laughed. "Yeah, thanks."

Miranda smiled at him. "Er…Welcome back? Well, you weren't really gone but…all the same…"

"Thanks! So, Krory! What's been happening 'round here?"

"Well, you were here, weren't you?" Krory said.

"True, but, tell me anyway! I missed you, buddy!"

"Right…"

"I did!"

Krory looked sad. "The little you got scared of me the first time you saw me."

Lavi chuckled. "Sorry about that. You know, I was just apprehensive; sharp teeth are pretty scary to a kid."

"Reminds me of that first time we went to Krory's castle," Allen mumbled, looking sourly at the redhead. "He bit me and you thought I was a vampire and wouldn't come near."

Lavi pouted. "You're all being mean! I just returned to normal and you suddenly decide to gang up on me! Hey, Yu, help me out here!"

"Fuck off." Kanda grumbled.

Lavi was crestfallen. "Always so supportive, Yu. That's what I love about you."

"Shut up and let me eat, idiot. And can you move further along a little?! You're practically sitting on my lap!"

Indeed, Lavi was sitting very close. And it wasn't like there wasn't enough space on the bench to sit comfortably. Lavi moved up, leaving a sizeable gap between him and Kanda. "S-sorry…just seemed natural, ya know, to wanna sit as close to you as possible."  
"That might have been fine when you were a kid but it's downright creepy now."

"R-right…sorry, Pa…Yu."

"Were you just about to call him papa?" Allen asked with a smirk.

"Shut up, bean sprout," Lavi said.

"I knew it! So your behaviour during the two weeks _has_ affected the way you treat and speak to us!" the white-haired boy exclaimed, glaring at Kanda.

"Don't look at Yu like that. It's not his choice how I speak to you, right?" the redhead grinned. "I just like winding you up, that's all."  
Allen sighed. "Just like a child."

"Oi, oi, I'm older than you are, you know. Stop acting like you're my granddad."

"Well, it's not my fault if you act half your age, is it?"

Lenalee interrupted, "Um…speaking about your granddad…about Bookman…"

Six heads jerked towards Lenalee and six pairs of eyes stared at her in surprise. She laughed nervously, "s-sorry…is it taboo?"

Lavi took in a deep breath and let it out slowly. "No, it's not. Not anymore, I suppose. Time for me to get over it."

Kanda was surprised; first at Lenalee for broaching the topic so openly and then at Lavi for replying so calmly.

"I-is that all?" Allen stammered, slightly taken aback. "Just like that…you're going to get over it? But, you were so upset though."

Lavi chuckled somewhat nervously. "So you knew about that, did you? Sorry."  
Lenalee rolled her eyes. "Of course we did. We're your friends, aren't we, Lavi?"

He smiled. "Yeah, I know that. I guess my attitude about the whole thing stank a fair bit, huh? That time after gramps left?"

Krory snorted. "You could say that."

"I'm sorry."

Allen's mouth turned up at the corners. "We forgave you for it a long time ago. But…can't you tell us why?"

"Hmm?"  
"Why you did it?"

"Oh. Right. Well," the redhead grinned, "call me sentimental but I didn't wanna leave you guys! C'mon, the two of you are gonna get married some day and I freakin wanna be there!"

He said it loud enough that a few nearby Finders looked up quizzically. Everyone at the table burst out laughing as Allen and Lenalee's faces went bright red. Kanda rolled his eyes.

"Sh-shut up, idiot!" Allen sputtered.

Lavi cackled. "Sorry." He sobered up quickly though. "But…I _did_ do it because I didn't want to leave. If I'd gone on to become a Bookman, these past few years which taught me the true value of being a human being would have meant nothing. I would have had to abandon everything I learnt from you guys. I wouldn't even have time to remember you or get in touch. I didn't want that. So, I stayed." He shrugged.

Allen looked like he was in shock. "Just…just like that? Can you even do that?"  
Lavi frowned thoughtfully, "Apparently so. I mean, if an apprentice doesn't have the will to be a Bookman anymore, then there's no point training him further, right? Because he'll just be a hindrance."

"That's a lie." The utterance came from Kanda. Everyone looked towards him but he stared back only at Lavi. "You know that's a lie. You can't say you don't have the will, because then you wouldn't spend hours and hours in the library writing records of things that don't matter. You wouldn't try so hard to keep your skills tiptop. I'm not wrong, am I?"

Lavi held his gaze for a few seconds longer before he turned away. "I'm sorry, Yu. I can't deal with this now."

Kanda harrumphed and got up and began to walk off. "Whatever."

Allen stared after the dark-haired man and then looked at Lavi. "Is that true? You still want to be a Bookman? Same as before?"

Lavi grinned feebly. "Ignore him."

"No, I don't think I should. He was the only one who didn't pretend everything was fine." the white-haired boy said with his eyebrows pulled into a tight frown. "The only reason you're depressed is because you still want that life, right?"

Lavi heaved a sigh. "But I want this one too. And I can't have both so I chose this one."

"Because your emotions mean so much to you?"

He nodded. "Yes."

Allen sighed too. "What're we going to do with you, Lavi?"

Lavi smiled a small smile. "Leave it be, okay? I'm the one who made this choice so I'm prepared to deal with it."

"At the cost of your own happiness?" Lenalee challenged. "We want you to be happy, Lavi. Not mock-happy like it has been these past few months. You don't need to pretend in front of us. You should give this more thought and…"  
"And what?" Lavi asked. "It's too late to go back to that life now, even if I wanted to. This is the choice that I made and I will stick by it. I'm off."

"B-but…"

"Later, okay? My kid self went to sleep at midnight and woke up at half five in the morning today, can you believe that? And then there was all the walking I did in the afternoon…that was pretty exhausting for a kid, you know? And then the transition wore me out a bit too and now that my belly's full, what I want more than anything is to reacquaint myself with the dear beloved friend in my room whom I have neglected for two weeks now; my bed. Seeya."

As the others watched him go, Allen grumbled, "How can he be so carefree?"

"It's just a front. He acts to cover up what he's really feeling all the time." Lenalee said. "I wish he'd stop it."

Back in his room, Lavi opened the window but then shut it immediately as a strong gust of wind blew some of the papers off the floor. He wondered if he should change his bedcovers. It wasn't really nice sleeping among dust.

He felt really lonely. He'd gotten used to sleeping beside somebody these past two weeks. But the idea of sleeping beside Kanda _now_ was embarrassing. He'd also felt a little awkward about it the first few times as his kid self had clambered up beside Kanda but he'd grown used to that. He'd been able to see it from Kanda's point of view; it had been a kid, not the real Lavi, so it was manageable. And, besides, the majority of his mind had had the thought process of a child so he'd felt happy sleeping beside his best friend.

_Ah, but it's so boring by myself!_ He thought. Maybe he could sleep in Kanda's room, on the floor? Kanda wouldn't have anything against that, right? Well…Lavi _had_ asked if he could sleep over a few times in the past and the answer had always the same; _NO_.

Lavi sighed and changed his bedcovers. Having done that, he fell onto his bed and tried to sleep. But sleep wouldn't come. He really didn't want to sleep alone.

Just as he decided that he would go and ask (banking on Kanda being a little less harsh after babysitting his best friend for two weeks), there was a knock on the door. "Yeah?" he called out, sitting up.

The door opened to reveal Kanda. "Yo."

"Pa…Yu! C'mon in!" Lavi exclaimed as he shifted to one side of the bed to make room for his visitor.

Kanda stepped over the papers littering the room. "Aren't you ever going to clean this place up?"

"Nope."

"Tch. You're so irresponsible." He took a seat on the bed.

"Right, right. So, what brings you here?" Lavi asked.

"Just came to…" the black-haired man shrugged, looking uncomfortable, "just…thought I'd see how you were doing."

"Right." Lavi grinned. "I was about to come over, actually. I can't sleep here."  
Kanda made no response.

"So?" Lavi prodded. "Would it be okay?"

"What?"

"If I slept in your room?"

There was a silence of a few seconds before Kanda shrugged. "If you want."

Lavi laughed once. "You're less stubborn than you used to be."

"Probably no thanks to you." Surprisingly, there was no bitterness in Kanda's voice. "I wanted to talk to you."

Lavi groaned. "About the whole Bookman thing, right?"

"Yes."

"Yu, can't it wait? Please? I don't wanna talk about it now!"

A pale hand reached out and grabbed a fistful of red hair and pulled. "Yeow! Yu, what…?!" Lavi trailed off. Kanda's face was frighteningly close and he did not look in the least happy.

"Stop putting things off." he hissed. "You think anyone's happy that you're doing this? Find the old man and resume your training."

Lavi huffed and pulled his hair of out Kanda's grasp. "I've told you many times already; I have no intention of doing that."

Kanda's gaze was blank. "Then you're dead to me."

Lavi's eye was wide. "Wh-what're you…talkin about, Yu?" What a random thing to say! How mean.

"I mean it. Find the old man."

"But, Yu…"

"No buts!" Kanda snapped. "It's for the best and you know it is so find the old man and go back to him, all right?!"

Lavi looked away. "I told all you guys it's time I got over it…"

"You've been saying that ever since he left! You're not fooling me, you know! I know you were just trying to put the others at ease when you said that but you're not going to try to do anything about it! You're inviting this depression in and it's fuckin pissin me off!" Kanda looked like he was ready to deal a blow to the redhead. He looked so angry.

Why did he care so much anyway? For years before they'd become friends, probably since he'd become an Exorcist, Kanda had cared for nothing but getting his job done.

Lavi was glad that that had changed, that the man now cared for those around him too…or, at least, he could admit to _himself_ that he cared instead of trying to deny it; he'd always had a good heart. But, for him to be this worked up about an issue that had nothing to do with him was unusual. He wasn't usually one to stick his nose in other people's business; he always said it was none of his concern.

Although he was afraid he'd get beaten up, a small smile found its way to Lavi's lips. "Thanks, Yu."

The anger drained from Kanda's face to be replaced by a quizzing frown. "What?"

Lavi crawled over the bed and flopped down beside Kanda and slung an arm around the man's shoulder. "Thanks. Means a lot to know you care."

It really did. Lavi couldn't express in words quite how much it gladdened him that he had Kanda for a best friend. At the best of times, Kanda acted cold and uncaring but, beneath all that, Lavi knew there was a good soul. Kanda could deny it all he wanted but Lavi had the memories of these past two weeks to prove it.

Suddenly looking embarrassed, Kanda looked away. "Wh-whatever. And get off!" He pushed off Lavi's arm and stood up. "I'm going. I've said what I came to say. If I continued, I'd probably just end up repeating myself and you know I don't like that. It'd be a nice change if you listened to me this once."

"I always listen to you!"

"No you don't."

"Yes I do."

"No you don't now shut up!"

Lavi pouted. "Fine. Anyway, hold up. I'm staying in your room tonight, right?"

"Well, hurry up."

* * *

Kanda was asleep. But Lavi still couldn't drift off. He'd been lying in the spare bedding he'd set out for quite a while now but sleep just wouldn't come. He was tired, certainly, but his current insomnia probably had more to do with the restless thoughts revolving around his head.

_"It's for the best and you know it is so find the old man and go back to him, all right?!"_ If only he could do what Kanda had said. But even if he did, he still wouldn't be satisfied. If he went back to that life, assuming that Bookman even took him in, he'd mope and then pretend everything was all right, just like he'd been doing these past few months. He'd miss his friends too much. He'd miss having his meals here. And, most of all, he'd miss his best friend.

He turned on his side and looked up at Kanda. If he went back to that lifestyle, it might be a while before he heard from Kanda again and, when he did manage to get in touch, what would he do if Kanda's time was already up? Well, it wouldn't matter if he was living this life or that other one; he'd still feel terribly empty if Kanda wasn't around anymore.

He then turned and cast his eye on the lotus hourglass. Was there a way to reverse it? There had to be! Kanda had taken a vow never to die until he'd found "that person", but he'd never thought of the possibility that "that person" might already be dead by the time he found them. It would have made sense if the curse had been removed the minute the one who cast it had died but it was a lot more complicated than that. "That person's" power still lived on, somehow. In short, Kanda's opportunity to save himself had gone and now he had to live with this curse. And he would die of it soon. There were just three petals left.

_It's not fair_, the redhead thought as he turned to lie on his back again. _Yu shouldn't have to suffer from this. I can't go back to being a Bookman…I don't want to be here when he dies…but I don't want to leave him on his own either. Yu…_

Frustration crept up his heart and he curled into as tight a ball as he could as his helplessness gnawed at his insides. He knew a lot more than most humans knew about the world and its doings and yet, despite that, he was useless in saving his friend. Next to Kanda's problems about when he'd die, Lavi's possible future as a Bookman meant nothing. Lavi was always left feeling this way when he thought about it, which was often why he tried not to dwell on it when he was in the presence of Kanda or the others.

A few seconds later, he heard the rhythm of Kanda's breathing suddenly go irregular as the man stirred. He immediately straightened himself out; no need for Kanda to see him like this. "Lavi…?" Kanda mumbled, sitting up and squinting in the light.

"Yo, Yu," Lavi greeted, trying to look nonchalant.

"Why's the light still on?"

"I was going to turn it off in a while. Sorry it woke you."

Kanda didn't say anything in response as he rubbed at his eyes. "I feel so weird."

"Why's that?"

He shrugged. "There's no little kid sleeping beside me anymore. Might have something to do with it."

"Aw, want me to sleep next to ya, Yu?"

"Eat dirt, bastard."

"Man, you're really grouchy when you wake up." the redhead snickered.

"Shut…" the next word was lost in a yawn.

Lavi sat up, looking up at the other man thoughtfully. _Does he really have to die?_ He thought. _There must be some way to lift the damn curse._

Kanda stared back. "What're you lookin at?"

"Do you want to die, Yu?"

He seemed surprised at the sudden question. "N-no, why'd you ask that?"

"So how come you're not doing anything about the curse?"

Kanda froze for a second before turning to look towards the darkened window. "Because it's hopeless."

"It isn't!" Lavi disagreed with vehemence. "There's got to be some way to remove it! I know it! In some place, somewhere, in this world, there has _got_ to be a way to get rid of the damn thing."

Kanda sighed. "There probably isn't."

"If one person has the ability to do something, then there must surely be someone else, at least one person, in the entire world, who can do the opposite, right?"

"I don't believe that. And even if it _is_ true, who'd be able to find _one_ person in the entirety of the world's population?"

A sudden jolt of realisation streaked across Lavi's brain. He jumped up. "That's it! Yu, you're a fuckin genius!"

Kanda looked confused. "What?" Lavi plopped down on the next to him, nearly throwing him off. "Wh-what's wrong with you, all of a sudden?" he demanded as he steadied himself.

"Yu, this is it! _I_ could do it!" Lavi cried.

"I can't read your mind, you know. What the fuckin hell are you on about?"

Lavi wanted to shake the man into realising it. It was so obvious now! How had he never thought of this before?! "I could do it, Yu! I could find a way to lift your curse!"  
Kanda frowned. "How?"

"W-well, see, Bookmen have access to anywhere, even those lost cultures and traditions of times long past! _Everywhere_ in the globe is open for Bookmen! If I looked hard enough, I'm sure I could come up with something! I could find that one in how ever many billions of people there are in the world!"

"That's stupid," Kanda scoffed.

"No it isn't!"

"Yes it is! I don't know shit about any of the other stuff you said but finding one in billions and billions of people without any kind of proof of identity, not even so much as a name, is impossible. And, you're not a Bookman anymore."

"Well, I could always change that." Lavi grinned. Kanda socked him one across the head. "Ow! What're you doing, Yu?! That hurt!"

"Good! First you say you can't and now you can? Make up your mind, fool." Kanda huffed and folded his arms across his chest.

Lavi smiled. "If it'd help you out, Yu, then I'll gladly go look for the old man."

Kanda's eyes were disbelieving. "Yeah right."

"I will! And I _will_ find that one person! I swear I will!" the redhead vowed with earnestness.

The long-haired man sighed. "Go back to Bookman but don't waste your time."

"I don't think it's a waste of time." Lavi disagreed. "I'll remove this curse for you. You don't want to die, right?"

Kanda looked away. "It doesn't matter."

"How can you say that?! You deserve a chance at life just the same as everyone else!"

"I'd accepted it. There's no helping it but…"

Lavi frowned. Why the past tense? "But…? But what?"

"These two weeks…"

_What's he trying to say?_ Lavi thought. "When I turned into a kid?"

Kanda nodded. He swung his legs off the bed and stood up. Lavi couldn't see his face. What was he talking about? "Yu? What about me being turned into a kid?"

"I'm sure I've told you, right? That regret is borne from attachments…"

It may not have been a great deal of information but, to Lavi, it was enough. He got off the bed, an expression halfway between incredulity and sorrow on his face as he approached his friend. "Yu…I'm sorry…"

"It's not your fault."

One of the things Kanda was afraid of the most was having regrets. Regrets would lead to unwillingness to accept death and Kanda wouldn't allow himself to fret over something that was inevitable. Better to be prepared and die an honourable death than to go out like a pathetic fool. He'd not said this in so many words but Lavi understood.

Life was short. Normal people would be happy to die with someone at their side when their time came. But Kanda wasn't normal. He wanted to go out in the manner he'd spent his whole life; alone. Showing a cold front. Uncaring. Not wanting anything. Not…_regretting_.

And Lavi had given him a reason to regret. He'd given him a taste of a life he'd never have. He'd die before long and he wouldn't get a chance at the life he'd come to desire. Lavi took in a deep breath and let it whoosh out of him. "I should have been more careful that time, huh? If I'd looked where I was going, I wouldn't have fallen."

"Well, _that_ part was your fault but I'm not blaming you." And, when Kanda turned around, he wore a smile. It just made Lavi feel even worse because it was such a melancholic gesture. He felt like crying.

"Yu…can I hug you?" he asked glumly, spreading his arms.

Kanda took an involuntary step back. "What the hell for?"

"Cuz I feel sad!" Lavi sniffled.

"Go to hell."

"B-but, you hugged my kid self! That's not fair!"

"How _old_ are you, exactly?"

"But still! C'mon, just this once?"

"No. I'm going back to bed. Move."

"B-but, Yu!"

"Quit whining! It worked when you were a kid because it was kinda cute and I didn't wanna make a kid cry! How it's just plain hideous!"

"Ah, that's so nasty!" Lavi paused and then plopped down on the bed again, nearly throwing Kanda off once more. "Eh? So you thought I was cute? Aw, that's like the only compliment you've ever given me, Yu! I'm moved!"

"Go and be moved somewhere else! I don't think you're cute; I thought the kid was cute."

"Same thing; I _am_ the kid."

"I know you're a kid. Now move and let me sleep."

When Lavi tried to sleep again, this time in the dark, his thoughts still wouldn't rest. But, the conclusion he'd arrived at before was now even firmer.

_So, Yu wants to be a dad_. He grinned. If it hadn't been for these past couple of weeks, he would never have believed something like that. But, after seeing Kanda slowly becoming accustomed to taking care of Lavi's kid self, the redhead didn't doubt it.

_I will make sure he has a chance at this life because I will definitely find a way to lift the curse. I will. Gramps, I'm comin._ He vowed.

* * *

**_Omake:_**

It was the big day today. He'd already been out to town, even though the wedding was in an hour's time. But, it wasn't like he cared if he got late or not. He'd just had something…necessary to attend to.

He made his way to Lavi's room and knocked.

"Yeah?" a voice from within called out.

"It's me." he said.

"Oh, Yu! C'mon in!"

He opened the door. Lavi turned away from the window and faced him and spread out his arms. "How do I look?" he grinned. He was dressed in a dashing black suit with a matching bowtie.

Kanda grunted vaguely in response as he walked over to the redhead. He held up a bag. "This is for you." he said in a dull monotone.

Lavi looked down at the bag, a look of wonder on his face. "For me? A gift?"

Kanda shrugged.

"Wow! This is a first! What d'ya get?!" Lavi cried as he took the bag and peeked inside. His happy expression turned to one of confusion. "Yu, the hell is this…?"

* * *

Allen hummed happily to himself as he walked along the corridor. What a beautiful day! The sun was shining brightly outside, as if blessing the young couple that would be wed today. He would have skipped because he was so happy but he didn't; that was just embarrassing.

There had been no attempts on his life today! Komui, who'd nothing short of become a beast since he'd found out the news a few weeks back, was being restrained. The air in the Black Order HQ was one of joy. And why shouldn't it be? It was his big day today!

He arrived at Lavi's door and, knocking once, he turned the handle and stepped inside. But a very odd sight greeted him.

Kanda stopped what he was doing. "Hn? What do you want, bean sprout?"

"Allen, help me!" Lavi cried.

Allen stepped inside. "What are you guys doing?"

Kanda was dressed in a tux, with the jacket missing. His arms were rolled up to his elbows and he was in the process of stuffing Lavi into a full-body white rabbit suit (complete with black eye patch).

"Bean sprout, stop this guy! He's gonna make me go to your wedding looking like this!" the Bookman apprentice cried out.

"Tch…idiots should look like idiots. Now, get in there!" Kanda snapped as he pushed Lavi's head down and covered it with the rabbit head.

Allen stared for a while longer, not knowing how to react. But then he had a flash of understanding. "Oh! I get it! This can be entertainment for the guests! Nice going, Kanda!"

"NOOOOOOOOOOO…!" the white rabbit cried. "H-hey, c'mon! I'm your best man, Allen! You're not going to have me hand you the ring looking like this, right?!"

But Allen wasn't listening. "Maybe Komui will find it funny…I think he likes rabbits…so he'll stop trying to kill me…hmm…not a bad idea, Kanda."

"Tch…" Kanda picked up his black jacket from where he'd left it on Lavi's bed and walked towards the door. Lavi was trying to get himself out of the rabbit suit, without much luck. "You're so mean, Yu!"

Kanda looked back. He quickly turned back as he left the room, a grin on his face. So...whatcha think, people? I hope it wasn't too disappointing...at the least, from the useless omake there, you can assume that Lavi's "quest" was fruitful and he found a way to lift the curse. Oh yes, before I forget, the whole thing about "that person"...um, I know it was lame but I couldn't be bothered delving so much into the situation so I went with the easiest option XD

* * *

And, also, I didn't get the opportunity to make Lavi tease Kanda about all the things he did as a "dad" :( sorry, everyone . I'm just glad I managed to finish this up.

And thank you to the reviewers, y'all know who you are. Your reviews were very uplifting and it was good to know that people were enjoying this story. I just hope the ending was satisfactory for you all.

Aaaaah, I wonder what I should do now...? I still have writer's block so I've not written anything decent in weeks! Bad Shiki, stupid Shiki! Anyway, enough about that! Once again, I hope you all enjoyed this and I shall piss off and try to get some writing done now! Huzzah!


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